if a data packet has been completely transferred to slave 3 then a finite state machine recognizes this and starts the same time slice as in master 2 the finite state machine is used for synchronizing the time slices in slave 3 and is illustrated in fig4 the information regarding which time slice is being calculated at the moment is contained in each can transmission packet the received data are buffer stored in an intermediate memory the so called shadow buffer compare reference numeral 51 in fig5 the current time slice is calculated using identical data as master 2 stored in a so called ram mirror the reason for the buffer storage is data consistency within the time slices and the relatively large data volume of one time slice if calculation of a time slice is complete the data exchange for the next time slice must be completed before it is started as a result of this time expenditure for the consistent data exchange a measurable dead time delay is built into the system the signals are all delayed by one time slice but are absolutely identical in the system in the case of the finite state machine illustrated in fig4 for synchronizing the time slices in slave 3 after the computer system is restarted for.