The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) is a non-profit association of manufacturers,
distributors, dealers, educational institutions, and others interested in peripheral marine electronics
occupations. The NMEA 0183 standard defines an electrical interface and data protocol for communications between marine instrumentation.

NMEA 0183 is a voluntary industry standard, first released in March of 1983. It has been updated from time to time; the latest release, currently (August 2001) Version 3.0, July 2001, is available from the NMEA office.


NMEA has also established a working group to develop a new standard for data communications among shipboard electronic devices. The new standard, NMEA 2000, is a bi-directional, multi-transmitter, multi-receiver serial data network. It is multi-master and self-configuring, and there is no central controller. The NMEA began a beta testing period in January 2000 with eleven manufacturers. A release version of NMEA 2000 is expected in 2001.

Read More Here! [NMEA-0183], [NMEA-2000]