Marine CAN Network 2000 · 250 kbit/s · PGN

NMEA 2000 development — custom certified devices.

The modern CAN-bus backbone. We design custom NMEA 2000 devices and the firmware that runs them — PGN handling, address claiming, instance management, and the plug-and-play behavior a crowded bus demands — engineered for certification from the first schematic.

Talk 2000 What we do
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NMEA 2000 Development

Built by someone who helped write the standard.

NMEA 2000 is the modern marine backbone — a CAN-bus network running binary PGNs at 250 kbit/s, with many devices sharing one plug-and-play bus. It's based on the same CAN foundations as SAE J1939, but with its own PGNs, addressing, and certification regime. Most new marine gear speaks it.

We don't license you a stack — we design the actual product: hardware, firmware, and the network behavior that lets a device earn certification and behave on a crowded bus. Big Cove's founder serves on the NMEA 2000 standards committee, so you're building with someone who helped write the rules. It sits alongside our 0183 and OneNet work as part of full NMEA development.

Capabilities

From PGN to certified product.

PGN Firmware

Encoding and decoding the Parameter Group Numbers a product needs — standard and proprietary PGNs, fast-packet and multi-packet transport — implemented to spec so your data is read correctly by every other device on the bus.

  • PGNs
  • Fast-packet
  • Proprietary

Address Claiming & Network Behavior

The ISO address-claiming dance, instance management, and load behavior (LEN) that decide whether a device is a good citizen on the bus — or the one that breaks the network when a second unit is plugged in.

  • Address claim
  • Instances
  • Bus load

Certifiable Device Design

Designing for the NMEA 2000 certification process from day one — hardware, firmware, and conformance behavior — so the product passes certification rather than failing late and forcing a redesign.

  • Hardware
  • Conformance
  • Certification

Gateways & Integration

Bridging NMEA 2000 to 0183 and OneNet, multiplexing sources with failover, and moving clean marine data onto PCs, tablets, and the cloud — the problem the Nemo Gateway solves.

  • Bridging
  • Failover
  • Cloud
2000 at a glance

The CAN backbone, by the numbers.

Attribute NMEA 2000
Physical layerCAN bus (based on SAE J1939 / ISO 11783)
Speed250 kbit/s
TopologyMulti-drop bus, plug-and-play, ISO address claiming
Data formatBinary PGNs (fast-packet & multi-packet)
CablingMicro-C / Mid connectors, powered backbone + drops
CertificationNMEA 2000 Certified — required to display the logo

The hard part of NMEA 2000 isn't sending a PGN — it's behaving correctly on a shared bus full of other vendors' devices, and passing certification. That's what we design for.

Shipped, not theorized

We've put NMEA 2000 products to sea many times over — most under NDA. The public example, the Nemo Gateway, fuses NMEA 2000 and 0183 with automatic sensor failover. From a single certified sensor to a full multi-device product, we build it to pass.

See the Nemo Gateway All NMEA development
FAQ

NMEA 2000, answered.

What is NMEA 2000?

NMEA 2000 is the modern marine network standard — a CAN-bus running binary PGNs at 250 kbit/s, with many devices sharing one plug-and-play bus. It's based on the same CAN foundations as SAE J1939, with its own PGNs, addressing, and certification. Most new marine gear uses it.

Can you build a custom, certifiable NMEA 2000 device?

Yes — it's our core work. We design the hardware and firmware with certification in mind from the start: PGN handling, address claiming, instance management, and load behavior, then guide the product through the NMEA 2000 certification process.

What are PGNs?

PGNs (Parameter Group Numbers) are how NMEA 2000 organizes data — each PGN is a defined message carrying specific values (position, speed, depth, engine data, and so on). There are standard PGNs plus room for proprietary ones, sent as fast-packet or multi-packet transports.

Do you handle address claiming and instance management?

Yes. The ISO address-claiming process and instance management are exactly what determine whether a device behaves on a shared bus — or breaks the network when a second identical unit is added. Getting that right is central to a certifiable design.

Can you bridge NMEA 2000 to 0183 or OneNet?

Yes. We translate NMEA 2000 PGNs to and from 0183 sentences, and carry them over OneNet Ethernet — with failover and data fusion. Bridging standards cleanly is the most common job we do.

2000 Development

Building a custom NMEA 2000 device?
Let's talk.

Tell me what it has to measure, control, or report — and I'll tell you how I'd design it to pass certification.