Patent ID: 7706305

Claim:
A vessel instrument network system in which a plurality of vessel instruments including a plurality of sensors are connected through an electrical communication network, the plurality of sensors generating the same type of navigation data, the vessel instrument network system comprising: a first communication network for realizing one-to-many communication; a first group of the plurality of the vessel instruments connected with each other through the first communication network; and a second group of the plurality of the vessel instruments connected to the first communication network with a protocol that is different from that of the first communication network, the vessel instrument of the first group being a data input/output gate between the vessel instruments of the second group and the first communication network; wherein at least one of the vessel instruments of the first group has a server function; wherein the vessel instruments of the first group obtain identification information and types of outputable navigation data of the vessel instruments of the second group that use the vessel instruments of the first group as the data input/output gates, and the instrument having the server function obtains identification information and types of outputable navigation data of the vessel instruments; wherein the instrument having the server function selects one of the sensors generating the same type of the navigation data, and outputs an instruction to share the navigation data of the selected sensor, through the first communication network; and wherein the vessel instrument of the first group provides the sharing instruction to the vessel instruments of the second group that use the vessel instrument of the first group as the data input/output gate.