Healthcare Wireless and Device Connectivity

Patent Award

After many years, it is now public notice of a patent award.

 
 

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&S1=linksense.ASNM.&OS=AN/linksense&RS=AN/linksense

Juniper Networks acquires Trapeze Networks Today

This is definitely a laser dot big time on forehead of www.cisco.com Combining the innovative of Juniper Networks http://www.junipernetworks.com/us/en/  now with Trapeze Networks is definitely going to shake things up a bit. Especially now that www.cisco.com moves more and more to other markets, perhaps this sends a strong signal to move back to their core competencies. Now the only other play is to figure out how to add cellular, PCS, and Public Safety and create a tri-fecta.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2010/11/16/juniper-nips-at-ciscos-heels.aspx

 

Integra Systems and the DAS Forum

We are now officially a part of the www.thedasforum.org

 
 

 

Cisco and the core business of wireless..where is this going...future?

Cisco Systems www.cisco.com is the market leader in networking...period. Great company, with a lot of smart people, with global domination. Oh yes, with a lot of $$ to always look to an acquisition strategy, when competitors threaten their space. However, being everything to everybody does sometimes dilute at times your valuation and focus, in light of technology advancing on a daily hyperspace moment. Perhaps they need to stick to their core business of networking, routing, and wireless?  Wireless is here and the future, both with the WLAN and 4G/LTE (my opinion) space.  Many innovative companies in this area are providing major league unique CAPEX and OPEX advantages as the L2/L3 becomes more of a commodity play, as well as wireless.  However, with the advent of 802.11n and the convergence of 802.11a/b/g, then it become not somewhat of a networking play, but how how the physics of RF work itself out.  Is the field of wireless being simply leveled out..or maybe shifted?  Comments, let me know, now that I have changed the blog to provide free and open comments.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AA4BS20101111

 
 

mHealthSummit Washington D.C.

This was a very interesting first day.  Let me say this was not HIMSS, but a show attended by approximately 2500 attendees and about 150 exhibitors. Actually, a lot of the companies and technology would probably be pushed to the outside edges of the halls at HIMSS. What was unique about this event was the international bent (meaning applications and speakers), being used now to bring real value solving real problems on a global basis. The majority of the applications and technology surrounded the use of cellular/wide area technologies and smart phones/and or similiar type of devices. While I do find the use of WiFi pervasive, the fact remains outside of the United States many developing countries simply do not have the infrastructure that we have in the United States.  Thus, while the mobile phone, now smart phones, and cellular infrastructure covers (now over 90% of the world), innovation came up with all kinds products and applications. Still figuring out how to download all the pictures off of my Motorola Droid, but will do this later today.  For now here are some unique companies and technologies.

 

 
 

www.buglabs.net

www.greatconnection.se

www.tigertext.com/business

www.ext-inc.com

Download 87_H6750_1.A

 

MHealth Summit in Washington D.C.

I will be at the MHealth Summit meeting in the next three days and be posting some blogs surrounding this event, time permitting.  www.mhealthsummit.org

 

The Dream Phone - the Verizon I-Phone Coming Soon to a Store Near You

People over the past couple of years have made fun of me because I carried a Blackberry, why not the I-Phone?  OK, now I actually have the Motorola X, DROID, i.e. Android OS. The Motorola DROID is one major league data hog, but not one hiccup with the Verizon network. It is because of the network, stupid I say.  ATT and Cingular smashing two companies together and not understanding the capacity requirements. When Apple I-Phone hit the ATT network, data usage shot up 5,000%!!.  When that happened the macro cell foot print (sector) shrunk to ensure that the downlink and uplink for voice was preserved, however the smaller sector and data bounced voice calls when roaming...like driving down the road.  CDMA of Verizon is better than GSM of ATT, but no doubt Verizon was waiting to up their capacity with LTE.  LTE makes a lot of sense for the iPhone, as Verizon CDMA network does not allow consumers (and or healthcare physicians to make calls and surf the network (web simultaneonsly on the I-Phone).  And here is the big kicker, 4G will not crubble to it's knees like the 3G network of AT&T. It also will allow for world-wide use, versus having to have a combination CDMA/GSM phone. AT&T cannot build out more capacity on it's macro network, so they are scrambling to put BTS and DAS into every venue that they can to add "capacity".  That is why the in-building DAS market is exploding and gone are the days in major metro areas of repeaters sucking bandwidth off the tower. (Well at least in Washington D.C., that is).  This problem is not going away anytime soon, as data usage is only going up and up.

The most talked about cell phone in America is the one that does not exist (officially), the Verizon I-Phone. As Fortune magazine recently said, "consumers have yearned for the Verizon iPhone as if it were the second coming.  The first hint of this was when Verizon started selling the I-Pad, most recently.  The CEO Ivan Seidenberg of Verizon is a genius. For healthcare applications on a broadband model he has made a major coup. Early this year he persuaded Google to issue a joint policy framework supporting Verizon's right to prioritize traffic on it's wireless networks, altering Google's long-held stance that all data should flow freely on wired and wireless systems. Thus, you could not have a kid's 40MB video file overshadow a broadband wireless medical application.

 

Wireless Hospital Monitors to Exceed $600 Million in 2013

This is a very good link to the article posted by Greystone Research...of course they want to sell the extensive wireless patient monitoring market survey, but there is some interesint tidbits of information that they reveal.

 http://www.pr-inside.com/wireless-hospital-monitors-to-exceed-r2209451.htm

"The benefits of wireless bedside and in-patient ambulatory monitors will prompt many current facilities to include additional wireless monitors to meet the need for new equipment"  " The flexibility of wireless becomes a bit addictive for caregivers who've experience it, particularly where patient movement is common"   Hospitals successfly using wireless monitors have ironed out the wrinkles in their wireless network coverage and are less hesitant to expand wireless monitor usage.  Key enablers of wireless in patient monitor growth will be the increasingly robust network architectures available from such leading provider such as www.cisco.com

 

 

IBWave the Gold Standard for In-Building Wireless Planning

Met Mario Bourchard over 4 years ago and have seen this small innovative company take off like a rocket in the in-building planning space. Typical Canadian company, professional guys doing a great job with no egos involved.  Hat's off to Mario for being the fastest growing technology company in North America in 2010. www.ibwave.com 

 
Download IBwave-Corporate-Brochure

Download IBwave-Design-Product-Sheet

802.11n 802.11a/g Multipath the Site Survey and Beamforming

From a healthcare perspective (via any vertical market) the hospital is the worst multi-path environment available. This multipath environment is caused by all the reflective elements present such as steel carts, beds, fluids, and tile/reflective surfaces, plus everybody moving around 24/7/365.  Add to this all the movement and mobility that is constantly going on as described.  Not a good environment for a RF signal to play in..period.  Example your smart phone in the depths of building. This is bad for the performance of 802.11a/b/g, but actually is an advantage for 802.11n.  Understand that MIMO with 802.11n, takes advantage of multi-path.  So then how has the site survey changed and what is the true throughput of 802.11n?  The traditional site survey (for WLAN) plans for the performance of negating multi-path with 802.11a/b/g, but this will degrade the potential performance of 802.11n, thus decreasing available network throughput. This requires a careful thought process "and" site survey on how to balance both what is somewhat considered legacy WIFI (802.11a/b/g)with 802.11n. (Let me say that 802.11a/b/g is not legacy, but the IT mindset is focused on speed...more better) Just remember it is not always about speed, but for the application to perform in the correct defined business model.  In this case a lot of medical device applications with 802.11a/b/g work extremely well.  Add to this, not many if limited OEM embedded 802.11n modules are offered today.  This will mature, just like 802.11b to 802.11a/b/g, and 802.11n, once power mangement issues are resolved regarding MIMO. (It takes a lot of power to transmit and receive). Sorry it is physics.

Beamforming is a great "marketing term", sounds like something dreamed on a napkin over a few bottles of beer or glasses of wine, but in fact it is pretty simple and has been around the the wireless world for a long time.  Beamforming is pretty straight forward. It is method of directing RF energy in order to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver, thus improving the reliability of the signal.  When you have more antenna elements (dynamic beamforming) to select a signal in an x/y/z axis you then can use software and algorithms to clean up the signal relative to the noise floor and then send back this signal in phase using the same antenna elements.  So, what does this all mean? OK, Cisco uses 'beamforming", and also Ruckus Wireless. I go back to my old days of "digital radio receivers".  If you use 14 to 3 antenna elements you tend to receive a better S/N of which is based upon all the same output of the transmitter and received receiver. It also probably overcomes a lot of the noise floor issues, since you have more antenna elements to receive and thus transmit.  Thus the algorithms can clean up the signal... in fact have a "cleaner signal", to transmit back.  Being able to look at the RF signal in a 3D axis, i.e. x/y/z, will in addition provide the value add of discerning the holistic environment from an actual multi-path and real life(demonstrated)  RF performance venue provides major league value to ensure the ultimate network throughput.  802.11n is (each end point entity), wlll need to evaluate whether DAS can fit within a financial or technical within this broadband model..Enough said.  Just look to those business models that tried a go at this!  It is my opinion that RF performance not only needs to be looked at from the network valuation; but how the RF design will utimately impact the back end network "performance" model.  While it is known that players like www.ruckuswireless.com have little footprint (at least in healthcare), their technology and performance just makes it seems some of a technical and financial sense against the yeah what network dudes consider. www.cisco.com. (I am not biased but just reading the performance RF models, of the leading network wireless performance modeling...leave it at that!)  However RF is very complex and the more and more push to the RF  envelope making it 100% 24/7/365  simply means better and confirmed absolute performance. Cisco Systems (while I got to digress they did not get where they are with not a lot of brilliant people), it just holds that a lot of smaller players with innovative technologies are nipping at their ankles). Heck, just think of Apple versus Microsoft! They the global leader in networking  www.cisco.com tend to inovate by  past experience via acquisition when competition threatens; so stayed tuned to the next venue of the next stage of wireless..it will be very interesing.  They (Cisco Systems) will and have always kept their eye on the ball of technology innovation. Who is the next target for acquistion?