This protocol already allows any device on the system to talk and listen to any other device on the same system. Thus in order to connect navCenter to your NMEA 2000 system all you need do is to install a WiFi Gateway.
Such Gateways normally plug directly into the NMEA 2000 system with little or no set up required. More information on connecting a WiFi gateway to nC can be found here.
The following links (by no means comprehensive) provide more information of the range of WiFi Gateways currently offered for sale:
The NMEA 0183 standard is a communication standard defined by the NMEA organization which defines a communication protocol called NMEA 0183. This protocol enables navigation instruments to exchange data with each other using a wired connection. A 'Talker', such as a Depth transducer, can send information along a wire to a dedicated 'Listener', say a Depth display. Another 'Talker', such as a GPS, can send its information along another wire to a dedicated 'Listener', say GPS display unit.
A limitation of the NMEA 0183 protocol is that these data streams cannot be combined on one wired connection as they will garble each others information. In order to combine a set of NMEA0183 information streams and send them as a single combined stream to a sophisticated device, such as a computer, we need a multiplexer.
The link below is a good description of how a multiplexer works:
Multiplexers - an overviewModern devices such as smart watches, mobile phones and tablets do not use wired connections to exchange data. Instead they utilise radio connection protocols such as 'WiFi' and 'Bluetooth'. To send all our navigation data to a mobile device we need both a multiplexer and a WiFi system.
Many multiplexers now come with the ability to generate their own WiFi network. With such multiplexers data from the boat's instruments is combined into a single stream and then transmitted over both a wired connection and over the WiFi network.
Even better, Some multiplexers will accept data sent from a mobile device over the WiFi network and place that data onto the boat's wired data system. This is a powerful feature as it enables a mobile device to do do things such as control an auto pilot, generate an MOB alarm etc.
Adding a mutiplexer and a WiFi network to a boat enables a mobile device to place a great deal of information and control onto your wrist or into your hand anywhere on the boat.
Multiplexers all have similar capabilities but come with huge differences in cost. Generally, the more inputs a multiplexer offers the greater its cost. It is is perfectly acceptable, and in some cases preferable (providing system redundancy for instance), to combine multiplexers to achieve the desired output. If your boat has SeaTalk1™ instruments then you need a multiplexer that offers an input port to convert SeaTalk1™ to NMEA0183.
Many boats may already have a wired only multiplexer and adding a small multiplexer with WiFi capability, such as the NMEA3WIFI from Vela-Navega could prove to be an excellent way of enhancing such a system.The following links (by no means comprehensive) provide more information of the wide range of multiplexers currently offered for sale: