The CN8E manual was recently updated and the new version is available in the CN8E page. We are now delivering this unit in different OEM versions although we are struggling to avoid having different firmware versions to maintain.
NMEA issued a press release during the summer about its plans for Ethernet-based “Onenet” and we are just starting to get questions about the relation between this and the IEC 61162-450. It would seem logical that NMEA Onenet and IEC 61162-450 would be related in much the same way as NMEA 0183 and IEC 61162-1, but this is not the case.
The -450 is almost only about transportation of NMEA 0183/IEC 61162-1/-2 massages on the network, while Onenet is very much focussed on the same but for NMEA 2000/IEC 61162-3 PGN’s, which is a very different scope.
However, the CN8E is equipped with a CAN port, which hardware-wise is compatible with NMEA 2000/IEC 61162-3 as well as SAE J1939 and various other CAN-based systems.
But the unit does NOT decode or interpret the 2000 PGN’s in any way, it merely packages and transports the CAN frames. This means that they can be handled and decoded by any device receiving the UDP’s generated by the CN8E.
As members of IEC TC80 WG6 we will monitor what is going on with NMEA Onenet, which still has some way to go before publication and we will certainly be susceptible to any requirements from our customers.