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CANOBEAM
PROVIDES THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION
FOR EXEMPLA HEALTHCARE
Canon’s Optical
Wireless Networking System Delivers Data
Security, Bandwidth, and Convenience to Colorado Hospitals
Organization
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., July 19, 2005
– When it comes to patients’ medical records,
security is not only essential, it’s the law.
And for Exempla Healthcare, the Colorado based operator
of major hospitals in Denver, Wheat Ridge, and Lafayette
(as well as local clinics and diagnostic facilities),
maintaining reliable data security means using Canon’s
Canobeam DT-120 optical wireless data transmission
system.
“As with all medical organizations, we operate
under the guidelines of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act), which includes federal guidelines
for the secure transmission of medical information,”
stated Exempla Healthcare Network Analyst David McKnight.
“HIPAA requires that we make all reasonable
efforts to keep all patient information private, which
means that if we’re sending data between sites
we have to make that sure it’s secure. Microwave
and other RF network links are extremely easy to intercept,
and current security and encryption methods for those
technologies are not difficult to break. But Canobeam,
being line-of-sight optical wireless, minimizes these
concerns.”
Exempla Healthcare installed a Canobeam DT-120 system
to provide a secure network link between Good Samaritan
Medical Center in Lafayette, and a leased facility
approximately a quarter mile away where Exempla is
developing medical information software. Data transmitted
between the buildings includes large-size medical-imaging
files.
“There’s a road between those buildings,
which eliminates the possibility of trenching fiber,”
McKnight explained. “We own the property right
up to the road, but the road and the property on the
other side aren’t ours, and we don’t have
right-of-way. Also, we needed to interconnect the
two sites quickly, which did not allow time for a
conventional WAN to fall in place in time, considering
the amount of bandwidth we needed. It was, of course,
feasible to use a couple of T1 circuits, but that
was not adequate for our timetable and the type of
data that was going across. Given that there was a
great deal of development going on in our software
facility—and that there were no local back-up
servers there—we needed bandwidth with which
we could perform not only the type of data transfer
and imaging transfer we do, but also back-ups across
the wire in a reasonable amount of time. All of this
necessitated the kind of bandwidth that we get from
Canobeam.”
The Canobeam DT-120 data-transmission system provides
reliable wireless communication via free space optics
(FSO) at distances of from 100m to 2km, at data speeds
of from 25Mbps to 156Mbps. Because Canobeam’s
FSO technology uses a line-of-sight beam of light
that can’t be intercepted, it offers full data
security.
The DT-120 is part of the DT-100 series Canobeam
systems from Canon Broadcast & Communications.
Additional Canobeam models include the DT-110 and
DT-130. Flagship of the Canobeam line, the DT-130
provides transmission speeds of up to 1.25 Gbps for
supporting Gigabit Ethernet networks. The DT-130 offers
a transmission distance of up to 1 kilometer and also
incorporates a 3R Function (Re-shaping, Re-timing,
and Re-generating), which allows the data signal to
be relayed without loss of strength or quality. The
Canobeam DT-120 has a range of 2 kilometers (1.24
miles) and provides data speeds of up to 156 Mbps.
The Canobeam DT-110, meanwhile, offers outstanding
value and performance for shorter distance applications,
from 20 meters to 500 meters, at speeds of from 25Mbps
to 156Mbps.
All Canobeam models are protocol-independent (like
fiber), can be set up quickly, and because they don’t
use radio waves, do not require a radio-frequency
license. Most important, the Canobeam DT-110, DT-120,
and DT-130 all feature Canon’s exclusive Auto
Tracking function. Auto Tracking automatically adjusts
the Canobeam light beam to compensate for vibrations
in the installation base due to wind, building or
traffic vibrations, and other environmental factors,
thereby maintaining an optimum FSO connection.
“Canobeam’s Auto-Tracking system, even
under constant 30 or 40 mph wind, has helped to maintain
signal quality,” McKnight reported. “We’ve
have had no real problems with snow, or rain, or fog,
or any of those kinds of issues. The Auto-Tracking
feature also makes it very easy to get things aligned.
I found it extremely easy to work with.”
“Even if we were able to run a cable, it wouldn’t
have been a wise investment for us because we would
be linking the hospital to a leased facility we may
not be using two years from now,” McKnight added.
“Installing a Canobeam, however, gives us the
option of removing the unit in the future and using
it somewhere else. I’ve already been considering
other possible uses for our Canobeam within Exempla
Healthcare. One example would be during a natural
disaster or other extreme condition in our immediate
area that would require access to medical information.
Canobeam gives us a line-of-sight system that’s
powerful enough to use at a moderate distance from
the hospital, which is a fairly high building. We
could re-mount the Canobeam to a truck, align it,
and create an instant high-bandwidth link to a mobile
field site.”
In addition its Auto-Tracking function and ability
to accommodate a wide range of data speeds, all DT-100
series Canobeams also includes a DT-MNG-100 Management
Board, which is built-in as a standard feature. This
feature enables users to monitor the status of Canobeam
transceivers via SNMP or Telnet (for monitoring and
setting). Diagnostic logs can be stored in a PC via
FTP (for log data transmission).
“Canobeam’s management interface is very
clear and straightforward, and it integrates well
in a network. Canobeam’s manageability and its
ability to have it send alert information in the event
of an issue gives you a lot of peace of mind. It’s
feasible that at some point if we ever found a need
we would probably purchase a Canobeam DT-130 to achieve
the additional bandwidth and distance. With Canobeam
you don’t have to worry.”
For more information on Canobeam, call 1-800-321-4388
or log on to www.canobeam.com.
About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business
and industrial imaging solutions. The Company is listed
as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America
and is rated #35 on the BusinessWeek list of "Top
100 Brands." Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ)
is a top patent holder of technology, ranking third
overall in the U.S. in 2004, with global revenues
of $33.3 billion. For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.
All referenced product names, and other marks, are
trademarks of their respective owners.
Specifications are subject to change with notice.
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