Secure high speed wireless network connects multible sites, reduces costs
The Marienhaus healthcare group has linked up four of its hospitals across the Ahrweiler region in Germany, enabling operations at one hospital to be viewed at other sites in real time and large files such as x-rays to be sent between hospitals almost instantaneously.
Zebra’s point-to-point (PTP) wireless broadband technology enables all the hospitals to access high-definition video, images and data, providing a scaleable, high-speed, secure platform for vital online applications.
Designed and implemented by Motorola partner, Disquom, the network also provides Internet access, email, VoIP telephony services and video surveillance. It has proven so successful that an additional hospital is already being scheduled for link-up in the near future.

The Challenge
Consolidated Network Facilitates Large File Sharing
Connecting each hospital independently to the Internet would have required three separate contracts and a costly, off-site virtual private network (VPN) for interconnectivity between the sites. It would also have made it more difficult to protect critical data.
Disquom proposed a strategy whereby a direct Internet connection could be installed at one hospital which would serve as an Internet access concentrator. This would allow the other hospitals to connect to it via high-speed PTP wireless links to gain Internet access and establish a secure VPN within the confines of the private network - a cost-effective solution that would also offer 24 hour customer support.
The PTP wireless broadband network would involve two separate projects; the first to connect three hospitals approximately 70 kilometres apart within a private network and to provide Internet access; and the second to install a high-speed link between two hospitals over a distance of some 32 kilometres.

The Solution
PTP Wireless Broadband Provides Speed and Capacity
The three hospitals of St. Josef in Adenau, Maria Hilf in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler (where the internet access concentrator resides) and the St. Josef in Burgbrohl were linked using PTP 600 series Ethernet bridges offering connection speeds of up to 50Mbps.
A high-capacity PTP 800 link was then deployed between the St. Elisabeth/St. Petrus/ St. Johannes community hospital in Bonn and Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. This provides speeds of up to 100Mbps to accommodate the high traffic demand.
Operating in both licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, Zebra’s PTP 600 and 800 series wireless broadband technologies are highly scalable solutions that have been specifically designed to operate reliably in bad weather and can withstand extreme temperatures. With built-in non-lineof- sight (NLOS) for the PTP600 and long-distance line-of-sight (LOS) functionality, they allow for high capacity and secure communications, even in high interference environments.

The Benefits
Scaleable Network Delivers Critical Data Securely
A cost-effective solution, the high capacity network also offers extremely low latency, which eliminates any recognisable delays when sending and receiving large files – critical when viewing delicate operations on video, for example. While PTP systems are engineered to be inherently secure, they have added multi-level security capabilities and compliance certifications to protect sensitive communications. This includes the international security standards FIPS-197 and 128/256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Also, any information which is passed between hospitals is physically separated from the ISP network, so protection of data and patient confidentiality is further ensured.
The network provides adequate bandwidth for the group’s current communications needs, but can be easily upgraded to double or even triple throughput to accommodate future requirements.

Key Facts
• The three hospitals of St. Josef in Adenau, Maria Hilf in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler and the St. Josef in Burgbrohl were linked offering connection speeds of up to 50Mbps, over 70 kilometers apart.
• High-capacity PTP 800 links deployed between the St. Elisabeth/St. Petrus/ St. Johannes community hospital in Bonn and Bad Neuenahr- Ahrweiler, providing speeds of up to 100Mbps to accommodate high traffic demand over distances of 32 kilometers.

Customer Profile
Company
Marienhaus Klinikum im Kreis Ahrweiler

Technology Partner
Disquom funktechnik GmbH

Industry
Healthcare

Product Name
• PTP 800 Series
• PTP 600 Series

Key Benefits
• High capacity, low latency
• Real-time video and data transmission
• Highly Secure communications

Solution Features
• High performance wireless broadband
• NLOS and LOS environments
• Resilient to severe weather conditions
• Efficient use of frequency spectrum.