Flexible digital infrastructure for the hospital of the future 

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Improving efficiency with a flexible digital infrastructure

How can your IT network support innovations in healthcare and align with budget constraints? By being expandable, agile and flexible, fully able to support your hospital’s needs as they evolve, today and into the future.

As the population ages and more people are living with chronic disease, the pressure on healthcare providers continues to grow. New advanced therapies improve care and clinical outcomes, but add to hospitals’ technology and IT demands. At the same time, healthcare budgets are facing restraints, meaning that
hospitals need to find new ways to provide more care services, with fewer resources.

Digitisation in healthcare is the key, enabling new clinical approaches and technologies that can optimise processes and the use of resources. Digital data and applications provide greater clarity into process efficiency and the impact and effectiveness of treatment paths, enabling more efficient ways of working and better patient outcomes. Healthcare professionals, working with electronic patient records, need reliable access to the platforms and data they use, across wards and devices. Today, the network truly is the backbone of the entire hospital.

The challenge for hospitals today is to constantly adapt, to new healthcare services, data-intensive technologies and increasing patient volumes. Your IT network needs to support these evolutions, and be ready to handle developments in the future. Aginode LANactive is an alternative LAN technology for
use in hospitals that allows you to build a flexible digital infrastructure, positioning you to meet the challenges of today, and tomorrow.

Challenges with traditional LAN

From complexity to flexibility

The number of applications running on networks keeps increasing each year. Server virtualisation, cloud computing, IP telephony, IPTV, security services, video conferencing and more require higher bandwidth, signal continuity and network scalability. IP convergence is also boosting the need for lasting infrastructures. However, when trying to keep up with today’s network evolution and projected future developments, IT managers face several challenges.

FTTO: the alternative approach to traditional LAN

LANactive offers an alternative approach to traditional LAN using Fibre To The Office (FTTO) topology and active switches to provide standard Ethernet services to devices via standard copper-based RJ45 technology. 

Using Fibre To The Office (FTTO) topology, fibre is laid vertically from a central building distributor to the different floors in your hospital. From there, the cable runs horizontally to a FTTO switch installed at the workstation or service consolidation point, close to Wireless LAN Access Points, cameras or other devices.

LANactive switches ensure intelligent conversion from fibre to copper and vice versa. Each switch, installed at the workstation in cable ducts or floor boxes, is equipped with four copper RJ45 user ports to feed terminal devices with data and power. Highest bandwidth, reliability and long distance coverage are coupled with the Ethernet benefits of copper. This solution meets current and foreseeable network requirements in terms of flexibility, cost efficiency and network interoperability.

Data throughput is uncompromised. Although the entire network operates at 1Gbps, throughput is as good as - or better than - that of a traditional network setup featuring floor distributors and an aggregated high-speed backbone. Performance is further supported by non-blocking switching and switches with 20 Gbps backplane.

Regardless of their size and complexity, FTTO networks can be easily and cost-effectively managed from a single location with the LANactive Manager configuration and management tool from Aginode. Precise mapping of current infrastructure status makes it possible to track and repair faults or configuration errors quickly, saving considerable time.

Why use FTTO for your hospital?

Healthcare is evolving rapidly, and hospitals have to manage constant change. Whether you are planning a new hospital or refurbishing an existing one, choosing an FTTO approach for your network offers significant cost benefits.

Fewer components, less space required for cabling and zone distribution

With FTTO, cabling volume decreases significantly and there’s less active equipment. No additional technical rooms are required, which means more useable area, additional savings and reduced environmental impact. Particularly when planning for a new hospital, opting for FTTO from the start can significantly reduce your building costs.

Better power delivery, ready for more wireless connectivity

Thanks to implemented Power over Ethernet (PoE/PoE+) functionalities, VoIP phones, WAPs and IP cameras are powered directly from the switch. In accordance with IEEE 802.3at and IEEE 802.3af, FTTO can easily accommodate increasing PoE wattages.

Enhanced security, higher availability and easy redundancy

Aginode switches support all relevant security and encryption mechanisms such as IEEE 802.1x, SNMPv3, HTTPs, SSH and SCP. Hardened firmware of switches provides high-level protection against cyber attacks. In the event of network downtime, any consequences will remain local. In practice, that means only a specific workstation or small section of the network will go down. Cable diagnostics will pinpoint the exact location of errors on fibre and copper cable links. FTTO makes it easy to set up ring topologies wherever there is a need for redundancy at the user level. Intelligent managed switches automatically switch data traffic to a ‘healthy’ fibre path, should a link fail. This guarantees the highest network availability to connected end users, with easy servicing and short uplink time, allowing hospitals to provide the highest levels of patient care. 

Easier expansion: grow as you need

FTTO grows with the user’s needs and can easily be adjusted to new technologies and applications. An optical fibre network has a very long operational life expectancy. It helps protect your investment, while accommodating future demands. The solution offers high bandwidth reserves, and if required, significant redundancy can be built in right up to the outlet. As a result, you can develop the entire network step-by-step in accordance with current or expected requirements.  LANactive offers cost savings and guaranteed performance, thanks to the simplicity of the concept, which reduces complexity and enables fast and easy rollouts, maintenance and expansion. The pay-as-you-grow model ensures that expenditures align with your current requirements. 

Choose fibre for latency and flexibility

Pre-terminated fibre for point-to-point links

In sizeable FTTO installations with a large numbers of fibre terminations, pre-terminated solutions are often used to meet stringent project time requirements. Our Pre-Terms consist of a full dielectric round cable terminated with LC connectors on either end. These can be quickly installed between the central distributor and the zone distribution box. From here, workplaces are connected using pre-assembled patch cords. From here, workplaces are connected using two or four fibres.  

• Pre-terminated fibre assembly (up to 24 fibres) between the building distributor and zone distribution boxes 
• High flexibility for future add-ons and changes
• Pre-assembled patch cords to the workplaces (switches) 
• Physical Ring structure using extractable bundle technology: maximum flexibility of the infrastructure 

Pre-terminated fibre for loop extraction 

FTTO makes it easy to set up ring topologies wherever there is a need for redundancy at the user level. Intelligent managed switches automatically reroute data traffic to a ‘healthy’ fibre path, should a link fail. This guarantees the highest network availability to connected end users. In fact, up to 1,152 active user ports with full redundancy could be serviced with a single cable. Furthermore, the uplink time is shorter. 

• Redundancy (for building distributors and work places) 
• Up to 1,152 active user ports with full redundancy can be realised with only one cable 
• Maximum flexibility 
• Minimum cable volume 
• Maximum network availability by using ring topologies and full redundancy (RSTP/MSTP)
• Highly cost effective solution

Medical switch for life critical applications

Standards such as IEC 80001 and IEC /EN 60601-1 require professional risk management in the hospital with a special focus on implementation and management of IT networks with integrated medical devices and systems. 

The LANactive Medical switch corresponds to the full extent of the standard IEC / EN 60601-1 and enables secure connection of digital medical devices. With integrated galvanic isolators on all ports, the switch prevents the transmission of unwanted voltages and currents between parts of a medical electrical system. They are connected directly to the network interface, where power sources and dangerous leakage currents may occur. 

The switch is particularly easy to disinfect, so it can be used without restriction in operating rooms and intensive care units. The LANactive Medical switch offers proven interoperability with the systems of leading medical hardware manufacturers and manufacturers of network components.

For life critical applications in medical environments, the LANactive Medical switch guarantees maximum security and safety to both patients and equipment, while staying within stringent budgets for procurement, management, service and maintenance.

Technical Specification:

• 4 integrated passive isolators for the user ports
• Patient protection of 2 MOPP with overvoltage protection of up to 4 kV
• Excellent electromagnetic compatibility (for use in laboratories, X-ray stations, in operating theatres)
• High power performance: guaranteed 1 Gigabit per second per user port
• Advanced IT security features (SNMPv3, IEEE 802.1x, RADIUS, SSH, HTTPS, etc.) and AES encryption (128 bit)
• MTBF over 400 years