IEC 61162 is a collection of IEC standards for "Digital interfaces for navigational equipment within a ship".

The 61162 standards are developed in Working Group 6 (WG6) of Technical Committee 80 (TC80) of the IEC.

Sections of IEC 61162

Standard IEC 61162 is divided into the following parts:

  • Part 1: Single talker and multiple listeners (Also known as NMEA 0183)
  • Part 2: Single talker and multiple listeners, high-speed transmission
  • Part 3: Serial data instrument network (Also known as NMEA 2000)
  • Part 450: Multiple talkers and multiple listeners–Ethernet interconnection (Also known as Lightweight Ethernet)
  • Part 460: Multiple talkers and multiple listeners - Ethernet interconnection - Safety and security

The 61162 standards are all concerning the transport of NMEA sentences, but the IEC does not define any of these. This is left to the .

IEC 61162-1

Single talker and multiple listeners.

IEC 61162-2

Single talker and multiple listeners, high-speed transmission.

IEC 61162-3

Serial data instrument network, multiple talker-multiple listener, prioritized data.

IEC 61162-450

Multiple talkers and multiple listeners.

This subgroup of TC80/WG6 has specified the use of Ethernet for shipboard navigational networks. The specification describes the transport of NMEA sentences as defined in 61162-1 over IPv4. Due to the low amount of protocol complexity it has been nicknamed Lightweight Ethernet or LWE in short.

There are three revision: the original published in 2011, and updates in 2018 and 2024.

IEC 61162-450/460

IEC 61162-460:2015(E) is an add-on to the IEC 61162-450 standard. This standard extends the informative guidance given in Annex D of IEC 61162-450:2011. The first edition was published in August 2015.

State May 2016 is the first bridge and system manufacturers beginning with the implementation of IEC 61162-450 and IEC 61162-460.

IEC 61162-460:2024 (also referred to as IEC 61162-460 Edition 3.0) is an updated add-on to IEC 61162-450. This standard extends the informative guidance given in Annex D of IEC 61162-450:2011. The third edition was published in April 2024.

Known devices with -450 implementation:

Known devices/systems with -460 implementation:

  • ( IEC 61162-460:2024 Gateway/Wireless-Gateway)
  • ( IEC 61162-460 Switch/Forwarder)
  • 2017-09-12 at the Wayback Machine (IEC 61162-460 Gateway)
  • 2019-08-30 at the Wayback Machine (IEC 61162-460 Gateway)

External links