This ÖVE/ÖNORM specifies a) procedures for the timely transfer of data and control information from one data-link user entity to a peer user entity, and among the data-link entities forming the distributed data-link service provider; b) procedures for giving communications opportunities to all participating DL-entities, sequentially and in a cyclic manner for deterministic and synchronized transfer at cyclic intervals up to one millisecond; c) procedures for giving communication opportunities available for time-critical data transmission together with non-time-critical data transmission without prejudice to the time-critical data transmission; d) procedures for giving cyclic and acyclic communication opportunities for time-critical data transmission with prioritized access; e) procedures for giving communication opportunities based on standard ISO/ IEC 8802-3 medium access control, with provisions for nodes to be added or removed during normal operation; f) the structure of the fieldbus DLPDUs used for the transfer of data and control information by the protocol of this standard, and their representation as physical interface data units.