A communication system is provided having a plurality of FlexRay network nodes by which respective user data packets are provided in an IP data packet format or an Ethernet data packet format, and having a FlexRay bus system, by whose physical layer data are transmitted between the FlexRay network nodes. The IP data packet format or the Ethernet data packet format each having a plurality of bit positions. The FlexRay network nodes are set up such that contents of the bit positions of the user data packets are each converted onto corresponding signals of the physical layer of the FlexRay bus system.