Redundancy In An Automation System Covering More Than One System Area

An automation system includes a first system area including a transmitting redundancy handling device and a second system area including a receiving redundancy handling device. Device obtains a first communication protocol packet with automation application data and a sequence number linked thereto, extracts the sequence number and places it in a destination option header of a first IPv6 packet, which also includes the first communication protocol packet, sends packet to the receiving redundancy handling device, obtains a second communication protocol packet having the same automation application data and sequence number, places the sequence number in a destination option header of a second IPv6 packet also including the second communication protocol packet, and sends packet to device. Device receives the packets, analyses the destination option headers, determines that the sequence number is the same in the packets and discards the first or the second IPv6 packet based on the determination.