The subject matter disclosed herein describes a switch embedded in a motor controller and a network protocol executing on the switch to provide communication between devices connected to the motor controller in a motor drive application. The embedded switch is configured to communicate via separate ports with an external controller, a network interface for the motor controller, additional motor controllers, and with the motor or other devices mounted on the motor. The network protocol includes a first tier for data that requires deterministic delivery at a high data rate, a second tier for data that requires a high delivery rate but is also tolerant of some variation in delivery time, and a third tier for data that may be delivered at a slower data rate. The embedded switch receives data at any port, identifies the communication tier to which the data belongs, and delivers it to another port accordingly.