This paper proposes an extended TCP/IP protocol, LAN/TCP, that can be used for the distributed soft real-time systems connected through the Ethernet-based local area network. Since LAN/TCP shows soft real-time performance with keeping compatibility and interoperability with the standard TCP/IP, the existing application software can be used without any modification. LAN/TCP also provides the periodic transmission mode(PTM) with which the periodical data collection and updating the control signals can be efficiently implemented with relatively small traffic overhead. This paper includes the computer simulation and experimental results of the proposed protocol.