Meru says wireless solution tailored for hospitals

Many Canadian hospitals have built Wi-Fi networks to augment their wired networks to cope with an ever-expanding demand for broadband.

With an increasing number of medical devices spewing out digital data, clinical staff toting smart phones and tablets and patients wishing to have Internet access, adding wireless has become a cost-effective solution.

However, all that swelling wireless traffic may have a price: The risk that a patient streaming video could slow data flow from a heart monitor.

To meet that possibility Meru Networks, which makes wireless LAN systems, says the latest version of its LAN controller software has the ability to create up to three separate traffic layers so IT administrators can segment applications and prevent interference.

Dubbed the Uninterrupted Care Network (UCN), Meru is showing off the technology at a health care conference in New Orleans this week.

Although designed for hospitals, Kamal Anand, vice-president and general manager of Meru’s healthcare business unit, said in an interview that UCN could also be used in other verticals such as education (think, he said, of segmenting a channel for students to use for exams), or retail (having one channel for store staff, another for the general public).

However, the healthcare field, where the potential for causing a life-threatening slowdown in data, is where Meru is focusing now.
RELATED CONTENT

UCN lets network administrators segment traffic streams into life critical (for example, real-time data from equipment measuring body vitals), mission critical (voice, electronic health records) and everything else. Among the advantages, the company says, is that it ensures that no matter how many patients and visitors are on the wireless LAN, medical-related traffic isn’t affected.

While IT can set up separate SSIDs or virtual LANs with quality of service, Meru says traffic still runs across a single channel.

UCN needs Meru [Nasdaq: MERU] wireless controller running version 5.3 of its System Director operating system. Anand said almost any Meru access point can be used, but the company recommends the AP332, a dual-radio, dual-band unit with three antennas.

UCN can be added to a non-Meru network, Anand said, but as an overlay which still needs a Meru controller and access points.

There is no additional software charge to customers for setting up UCN.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Howard Solomon
Howard Solomon
Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. Before that I was a staff reporter at the Calgary Herald and the Brampton (Ont.) Daily Times. I can be reached at hsolomon [@] soloreporter.com

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now