It is 2013 and I still cannot I believe still hear this argument for WMTS. My head hurts. In 2000 we were on the presentation circuit when Welch Allyn came out with their FHSS MicroPaq. In 2005 Integra Systems, Inc. was the thought leader behind the architecture of Draeger OneNet…the first shared WLAN infrastructure for patient monitoring. Moving forward in 2013, this has been deployed on a global basis and it is safe, reliable, and cost effective. In fact if you go to www.cisco.com you can download the complete technical architecture for the design and implementation in a shared enterprise environment with other healthcare applications. As more and more hospitals want house-wide coverage and more and more telemety and patient monitoring channels, the channel spacing at 608-614MHz simple does not allow this, hence the need to use 1.4GHz, of which means two separate systems. Oh yes, does healthcare have the $$ to throw away at a costly and dedicated WMTS infrastructure when they could now use this for their needed EMR implementation to meet meaningful use?
802.11a/b/g is not “safe” versus dedicated spectrum of WMTS. This argument has no validity. Last year Integra Systems, Inc. was involved in a forensic investigation where a WMTS system was experiencing repeated drop out of “minutes” over a two year period. Had to haul in a spectrum analyzer and figure things out. So it is a myth that this is protected….it is RF! This also caused a huge liability problem for the institution. We were called in because the manufacture could not figure out was going on for two years!
Now I hear, well 802.11a is better than 802.11g? Who is saying this? Yes there are only three non-overlapping channels in 802.11b/g at 2.4Ghz versus 802.11a with more non-overlapping channels, but that is not the point. It about proper network design! Integra Systems, Inc. last year designed a 802.11g voice network for a classified Department of Defense that had to work with 100% reliability…all the time. You know what…it worked just fine. Let me also say that patient monitoring takes up a very small amount of bandwidth, so no way is it going to be a bandwidth hog.
802.11ac acceptance the end of 2013 puts an end that 5.0GHz is the place to be not 2.4GHz. This where the high bandwidth applications will reside as this will pretty much offer GigaEthernet speeds. So the premise of a dedicated patient monitoring network for 802.11a..well that is where it is going to get real crowded, real fast.
So, this is jest of it. WMTS will be history. A WLAN enterprise patient monitoring network is simply another application that through proper network design will work in a reliable fashion. It has been proven out since 2005…it now 2013. Some food for thought, most folks do not know the majority of financial transactions that occur daily on Wall Street are through an enterprise WLAN. Guess if good enough for security and quality of service for billions of $$, guess just fine for healthcare.
Couple of good reads: Co-authored paper by author and Dr. Baker…2008, published in IEEE. Writing a paper with a rocket scientist..was a definite challenge. It also on Aruba Networks web site.
Everything you wanted to know about 802.11ac…by Cisco. Good when you want to go to sleep at night.
Download Wp_Medical-grade_Life-critical_Wireless_Networks_SteveBaker
