A Hard Real
Time Control Center (HRTCC), comprised of hardware,
software and
firmware, with time synchronisation and time
delay compensation methodologies that allows Application Hardware and / or
User Input Devices to be networked together on any communications network as if there were negligible network delays in the
system, is disclosed. This will allow Application Hardware and / or
User Input Devices (connected to an HRTCC at one location (node) on the network) to control or operate Application Hardware and / or
User Input Devices connected to another HRTCC at a remote location without the detrimental effects of network
time delays. The time synchronisation of the various HRTCCs on the network can be enabled using hardware (e.g. a
global positioning system (GPS)) or any other
software method (e.g.
Network Time Protocol). Using time stamps from the time synchronisation, the time
delay of the signals (data) transferred over the network can be determined. The main embodiment of the time
delay compensation methodology is an estimator / predictor
algorithm. The estimator generates
signal information that allows the predictor, using the time delay, to project the
signal information characteristics into the future by an amount equal to the time delay. If this predicted
signal is used rather than the delayed signal, there will be no readily apparent time delay in the
system thereby significantly improving the stability and performance of the associated application. Any
software architecture can be used such as servant-
client,
token ring or
peer to peer.