Patent 7616339 was granted and assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft on November, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A data transmission system with distributed control functionality for machine tools, production machines, and robots, having a plurality of control functional units, has a respectively networked movement control system which controls the operation of the control functional units in complex processes. Information relating to movement control can be interchanged by means of real-time cross-communication between the control functional units. An Ethernet link can be used for real-time cross-communication. The use of the data transmission system for printing machines also represents an advantageous application of the invention.