Ruckus Deploys Wireless Network at China’s Dezhou People’s Hospital

Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company, has deployed a high-performance wireless network at Dezhou People’s Hospital, in the Shandong Province of the People’s Republic of China.

The network delivers mission-critical connectivity to support the hospital’s 2,300 doctors and medical staff in delivering mobile clinical services throughout the 1,300-bed hospital.

“The need for efficient and secure access to medical records and mobile healthcare services, requires a reliable and secure network,” said Director Wu, Network Department of Dezhou People’s Hospital. “The hospital’s existing wireless infrastructure had poor signal strength and was unstable, which often caused delays to our daily clinical work. We required upgrades to meet the latest standards and address the physical challenges of the building, which had blind zones and network interference resulting in significant performance issues.”

Dezhou People’s Hospital staff can now leverage mobile wireless devices such as hand-held terminal PDAs, tablets, and mobile carts to conveniently and securely access test reports and medical data, and provide online consultation to patients. For example, medical equipment such as electrocardiogram (ECG) machines can be connected wirelessly to the ECG network enabling nearly instant delivery of patient data for diagnosis by medical experts.

Ruckus Networks’ partner Along Technology led the wireless network upgrade. “Before full-scale deployment, the hospital ran a two-year pilot to evaluate the performance of Ruckus solutions against the competition. Ruckus was selected for its reliability and excellent performance," said Cheng Changliang, Marketing Director of Along Technology.

Two Ruckus SmartZone 124 wireless network controllers, more than 600 R500 ceiling-mounted access points (APs), and 50 H500 wall-mounted APs were installed in the first phase. Supporting clustered redundancy and hot back-up functions, the Ruckus APs can reliably work with multiple clients, enabling the hospital to run both internal and external networks independently. Smart antennas in the R500 and H500 APs significantly improve signal coverage and are resistant to interference. The wall-mounted H500 AP can also be installed in areas where wiring is a challenge, such as in operating rooms. An additional 300 Ruckus APs are scheduled to be deployed as part of phase two.

“In the pilot test, Ruckus’s patented BeamFlex™ adaptive antenna technology provided exceptional signal coverage,” said Director Wu, Network Department of Dezhou People’s Hospital. “Signal interference is now a problem of the past, even in the hospital’s complex network environment. The new network has dramatically improved performance, and we’re receiving fewer complaints. We are also experiencing an increase in daily network traffic from family members and guests since they are able to access the wireless network easily."

“Ruckus is committed to providing advanced network technologies and products for the medical industry,” said Kelvin Wang, General Manager of Ruckus Networks China. A stable and reliable wireless platform is crucial for hospital environments, as medical professionals rely on connectivity to transfer patient data and information to provide timely consultations. Ruckus will continue to work closely with our customers in the medical sector to help drive the digitalization of the industry.”