Patent attributes
A method for monitoring message packets that are exchanged between at least two control units. The message packets are concatenated in a data stream and each have an identifier, a payload, and a length specification of the payload described by a data item of predefined word size. The at least two control units are connected by a distributor. The distributor is connected by a first distributor port to a first of the at least two control units, is connected by a second distributor port to a second of the at least two control units, and is connected by a third distributor port to a computer system. The data stream flows through the first and distributor port for communication between the first node and the second node. The computer system has a memory, and information on the respective identifiers of the message packets is stored in the memory.