A control device for carrying out a method of exchanging control and regulating signals in a motor vehicle includes a central control unit which is an integrated semiconductor circuit and which is disposed on at least one circuit board. At least one driver unit is disposed as a further integrated semiconductor circuit in the control device for monitoring and controlling an application. The driver unit interacts with the central control unit. For this purpose, the central control unit includes a first optical transceiver, the driver unit includes a further optical transceiver and the transceivers are optically coupled for data exchange.