Patent ID: 8606983

Claim:
A device for manipulating communication messages in a communication system including a data bus, a plurality of nodes connected to the data bus, wherein the communication system is configured for transmitting messages in message frames at fixedly predefined communication cycles, comprising: an intercepting unit configured to intercept a message intended for at least one node of the communication system before the message reaches the at least one node; a manipulating unit configured to manipulate the intercepted message; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the manipulated message to the at least one node; wherein the device is situated on the data bus between the at least one node for which the manipulated message is intended and at least one other node of the communication system, wherein the device is configured to be selectively activated and deactivated, and wherein, in the deactivated state, the device does not manipulate the intercepted message intended for the at least one node, and wherein idle times are provided between message frames, during which idle times no communication messages are transmitted, and wherein the device includes at least one switching arrangement for at least one of selectively activating and deactivating during the idle times the arrangement configured to manipulate the intercepted message.