Control system, communication control method of control system, and control device

A communication control method of a control system comprising a communication master and one or more communication slaves connected to the communication master by a network, each of the communication master and the one or more communication slaves comprising a synchronization counter,

• the communication control method comprising:
• repeating, by the communication master, transmission of a control frame including a counter value of the synchronization counter of the communication master to the one or more communication slaves through the network;
• receiving, by each of the one or more communication slaves, the control frame and updating, by each of the one or more communication slaves, the counter value of the synchronization counter of the communication slaves based on the received control frame;
• managing, by the communication master, a total number of the control frames transmitted for each of the one or more communication slaves;
• and
• estimating, by the communication master, a synchronization accuracy with respect to the communication master for each communication slave based on a number of transmissions of the control frame for the communication slave.

A control device that functions as a communication master connected to one or more communication slaves by a network, the control device comprising:

• a synchronization counter,
• wherein
• the communication master is configured to:
• repeat transmission of a control frame including a counter value of the synchronization counter of the control device to the one or more communication slaves through the network, each of the one or more communication slaves receiving the control frame and updating the counter value of the synchronization counter of the communication slave based on the received control frame, and
• manage a total number of the control frames transmitted for each of the one or more communication slaves and estimate a synchronization accuracy with respect to the communication master for each communication slave based on the number of transmissions of the control frame for the communication slave.