METHOD FOR SYNCHRONISING CONTROL APPLICATIONS OVER A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK FOR TRANSMITTING TIME-CRITICAL DATA, NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE DEVICE AND COMMUNICATIONS END DEVICE

Method for synchronizing control applications via a communication network for transferring time-critical data, wherein network infrastructure devices determine, for the forwarding of datagrams associated with selected data streams, respective time delays between a planned transmission time of the datagram and an actual transmission time of the datagram in question, where the selected data streams are assigned to control applications running on communication terminals, and where a beginning of a next end-node-side transfer cycle is determined by a starting-node-side control application based on the time delay determined by a preceding network infrastructure device in question, an accumulated maximum time delay and a transmission time of the datagrams to achieve synchronization between transfer cycles of starting-node-side control applications and transfer cycles of end-node-side control applications.