Patent ID: 7304401

Claim:
A transmitter/receiver device for a motor vehicle component connected to a communications network, comprising: at least one transmitter unit for transmitting data over the communications network; and at least one receiver unit for receiving data over the communications network, the communications network being used for transmitting data between the component and further components connected to the communications network; wherein at least one of the following is satisfied: the transmitter/receiver device includes a plurality of the transmitter units, each of the transmitter units providing at least one separate channel for transmitting data over the communications network, and the transmitter/receiver device includes a plurality of the receiver units, each of the receiver units providing at least one separate channel for receiving data over the communications network; and wherein parallel operation of a plurality of bus systems is implemented using at least one of (i) the plurality transmitter units and (ii) the plurality of receiver units in the communications network, the communications network being a single common communications network.