Abstract: The present invention provides a network controller that directs communications with a variety of remote devices via a common bus. The network controller includes a transmitter for transmitting messages via the common bus, and a receiver for receiving messages from the common bus. Additionally, the network controller includes a clock for providing clock signals to both the transmitter and receiver. The transmitter and receiver are selected such that the network controller is capable of selectively operating in either synchronous or asynchronous mode. In operation, the network controller is configured in either a Manchester encoding or a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) protocol. The transmitter transmits messages comprising a command and an address of at least one remote device. In one embodiment, the transmitter simultaneously transmits messages to a plurality of remote devices in accordance with a group address comprised of a multiple bits with each bit associated with a respective group.