A communications network for communication between at least one power electronics element and at least one control unit is disclosed. At least one transmit/receive unit of the communications network is configured to receive at least one signal from an upstream direction, and evaluate if the at least one signal is correctly received. In case the at least one signal is correctly received, the at least one transmit/receive unit is configured to forward, in an allocated first time slot, the at least one signal to a plurality of transmit/receive units in a downstream direction, and receive, in an allocated second time slot, a plurality of signals from the plurality of transmit/receive units as a response of the forwarded at least one signal.