
WLAN (802.11a/b/g/n/ac) has been deployed within hospitals for the past sixteen years. Early day site deployments were simply WLAN (AP(s), that were installed down the hallway or in a Dixie Cup approach. This worked fine when applications were limited to computers workstations on wheels or the occasional voice over IP phone. (See attached article). However, as all the infusion pump companies and almost all the patient monitoring companies now have WLAN enabled their devices, challenges arise.
Previously site surveys tended to be designed with a signal level strength of -85dBm, (dBM = an abbreviation for the power ratio in decibels (dB) of the measured power referenced to one milliwatt (mW), in the case of WLAN voice over IP, this requires around an increased signal strength of -65dBm with a CCI (co-channel interference) of less than 2%.
With infusion pumps being used in the patient room, and now WLAN telemetry located near the patient, this poses some unique RF challenges. Many patient rooms have a lot of metal, water, and also tile bathrooms. This poses a lot of challenges for the 802.11 signal which is often attenuated by fluids in the room to actually get through the walls of the patient room to the WLAN access point in the hallway. Tile and metal tend to reflect the wireless signal as it moves from the WLAN client to WLAN AP. (Part of the reason you have two antennas on a WLAN AP is to provide antenna diversity to overcome nulls)
Here seems to be one very unique and interesting solution. A plug and play solution to provide the coverage that is needed for today’s modern healthcare WLAN at a surprising affordable cost.
Put the “wireless access point” and “controller” in each room!
The ExtremeWireless WiNG 7502E access point is purpose-built for public facing micro-cell environments such as patient rooms in a RJ-45 wall plate. Universal mounting bracket for worldwide structured cable boxes includes US 70 mm x 115 mm decor trimplate
Since the AP 7502E is readily accessible to guests and patients, it has been made virtually tamper-proof. Once the AP 7502E is snapped into its metal bracket that is mounted to the wall, it cannot be removed without a special tool. For additional security, you can also bolt the AP 7502E directly to the metal bracket with a special torque screw that also cannot be removed without a special tool.
The dual 802.11n and 802.11ac radios, five internal antennas, plus a host of Extreme Networks-only features provide a dependable high-performance wireless connection for every user and every WLAN enabled medical device in the room. Its revolutionary small size makes it easy to install anywhere, while the understated design allows it to easily hide in plain sight. Deployment couldn’t be easier or faster — the AP 7502E can be installed in just a few minutes, with zero-touch automatic configuration.
BTLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) is also provided. This allows for the next indoor location based systems as well as provided the BTLE to WLAN back haul to the enterprise.
The basic radio and interface specifications:
Wireless medium Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Modulation and Coding
Scheme (MCS), High Throughput (HT)
Network standards IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 802.11d and 802.11i WPA2 and WMM
Data rates supported 802.11b: 1, 2, 5.5 and 11
802.11g/a: 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48 and 54 Mbps
802.11n: MCS 0-15 up to 300 Mbps
802.11ac: MCS 0-8 up to 867 Mbps
Operating frequencies 2.4 GHz band: 2400 - 2483.5 MHz, 5.2 GHz band: 5150 - 5250 MHz, 5725 - 5850 MHz
Antenna configuration 2.4Ghz: Two internal omni-directional, 1x2, 2x2, MIMO, 3dBi peak gain 5Ghz; Two internal omni-directional, 1x2, 2x2, MIMO,
5dBi peak gain Bluetooth; one internal omni-directional
Transmit power 6dBm to 15dBm per transmit chain 1dB increments (Actual transmit power dependent on national limits)
Receiver sensitivity 2.4GHz band: -96dBm @ 1Mbps; – 74dBm @ MCS7 40mHz
5.2GHz band: -95dBm @ 6Mbps; – 73dBm @ MCS7 40MHz
Bluetooth LE 2400 - 2483.5KHz in 2MHz channels, user configurable UUID, beacon period, format
802.11 Wireless Interface Dual Radio; 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz and 5.2GHz
Bluetooth LE Interface Single BLE transceiver
LAN Ethernet ports 3 x IEEE 802.3 10/100Mb auto-sensing
Uplink LAN Ethernet 1 x IEEE 802.3 Gigabit Ethernet auto-sensing
Up to 25 7502E access points get the power of centralized management — without the need to purchase and manage a controller. (saves controller and switch port costs)
Deployment of WiNG Express Manager can help deploy a network with different WiNG Express Access Points and scale with more than 25 access points.
WiNG Express products can be configured and deployed in about 5 minutes. After powering on the access point, users can connect to “WiNGExpress” SSID and go to www.ExtremeNetworks.com/wingexpress to configure the access point. Once an access point is configured, the user can enable the virtual controller feature and let the access point configure and manage additional access points by simply adding them to the network.
Download Wifi-monitoring-wp-9068680-en
Download Ap-7502e-data-sheet