WO1995035634A1 - Systeme de communication sans fil multiniveau pour hopitaux - Google Patents

Systeme de communication sans fil multiniveau pour hopitaux Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1995035634A1
WO1995035634A1 PCT/US1995/007736 US9507736W WO9535634A1 WO 1995035634 A1 WO1995035634 A1 WO 1995035634A1 US 9507736 W US9507736 W US 9507736W WO 9535634 A1 WO9535634 A1 WO 9535634A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
communication
unit
mobile
transceiver
units
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1995/007736
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Evelyn C. Price
Cynthia L. Schikal
Original Assignee
Price Evelyn C
Schikal Cynthia L
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US08/261,152 external-priority patent/US5537459A/en
Application filed by Price Evelyn C, Schikal Cynthia L filed Critical Price Evelyn C
Priority to AU28649/95A priority Critical patent/AU2864995A/en
Publication of WO1995035634A1 publication Critical patent/WO1995035634A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
    • H04W84/10—Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
    • H04W84/16—WPBX [Wireless Private Branch Exchange]

Definitions

  • TITLE MULTILEVEL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR HOSPITALS
  • the present invention relates generally to communication systems for use between Multiple Groups of individuals in both stationary and mobile locations.
  • the present invention relates more specifically to an improved communication and calling system for hospitals and the like for use between patients, health care providers, and centralized hospital stations.
  • Communication systems in labor intensive service establishments such as hospitals, hotels, dormitories, and the like have generally involved hard wired intercom systems that allow persons or patients within a particular room of the building to call and communicate with centralized stations so as to request services or to locate needed personnel.
  • the best examples of the state of the art in such communication systems are found in hospitals wherein communication between the generally immobile patient, the centrally located nurses' station, and the generally mobile health care provider is quite critical.
  • Hospital intercom calling and communication systems are for the most part based upon closed loop, hard wired, localized connections between the patient's room and a central nurses' station. Communication with the health care providers such as the nurses and orderlies on the floor is generally limited to wide area broadcast intercom systems in the hallways or common areas simply because such health care providers are seldom located in any single position in the hotel wing for any length of time.
  • the basic hospital calling communication systems that have been implemented thus far have a number of fundamental drawbacks. The most important problem derives from the fact such systems are hard wired and not easily modified in their configuration and use.
  • intercom systems that include patient units that must be attached to some length of communication cord connecting a microphone/speaker unit with a centralized communication system station.
  • Such permanently installed intercom units are sometimes inaccessible to a patient who has fallen or otherwise prevented themselves from reaching the unit.
  • a second drawback to the standard hard wired intercom system involves the necessary mobile character of the health care providers that work in the hospital.
  • the solution to the problem thus far has simply been to broadcast intercom requests and messages to all who are within hearing range of a speaker system mounted in the common areas and the hallways of a hospital wing.
  • broadcasts can be and often are restricted to specific hallways and wings where the health care provider is believed to be located, there is little, if any, privacy to be found in the broadcast of the message and no guarantee that the broadcast will be received by the appropriate individual.
  • current systems generally require that patient efforts to contact specifically assigned health care providers be relayed through a nurses' station as opposed to being carried directly to the health care provider. As the nurses' station may or may not be staffed at any particular time, a call from the patient to the nurses' station may or may not be immediately received by someone who can thereafter relay it to the appropriate health care provider.
  • a second problem with current wireless systems relates to directing a specific intercom message or communication to a particular health care provider or a particular station and not directing the same communication to all other potential recipients within a given area. It, therefore, becomes necessary to electronically identify a recipient and isolate the transmission to that particular recipient's transceiver unit. Efforts in the past to resolve this problem have been quite limited.
  • a communication intercom calling system that permits limited mobility for individuals who are generally fixed in position within the system (such as patients) , full mobility for individuals who are generally not fixed in their location in the system (such as health care providers) , and centralized communication controls at fixed satellite stations and a single centralized building station within the system. It would be desirable if this wireless communication system were capable of handling a number of "calls" or communication "paths" simultaneously as with protocols similar to those utilized in current cordless telephone communication systems. It would be desirable if such a system would involve low power transmission and reception requirements and would include a means for identifying specific transmitters and receivers with information on the individuals utilizing such devices.
  • an object of the present invention is to provide a communication intercom and calling system for use in localized areas that involve stationary, mobile, and centralized transmitting and receiving locations.
  • four levels of communications namely a first semi- stationary level for individuals such as patients within a hospital; second, a fully mobile level for individuals such as health care providers within a hospital; third, a centralized satellite station level capable of communicating with each of the first two levels and responsible for coordinating and relaying communications among the first three levels; and fourth, a single centralized master control level responsible for maintaining data on the overall system configuration and for relaying communications between satellite stations and from within the system to the outside world.
  • the present invention provides a modularly structured communication system for use in a localized area such as within a hospital environment that provides transceiver units for partially mobile individuals such as patients, transceiver units for completely mobile individuals such as health care providers, stationary satellite units proximate to an area within which the patient and health care provider units would operate, and, finally, a master command unit typically located in a single, centralized position within the hospital that ties together the satellite units and thereby ties together each of the modular transceiver units within the system.
  • the master control unit would be responsible primarily for the maintenance of data on the various elements within the system and for the communication of telephone transmissions from within the system to the outside world through modem and/or telephone switching lines.
  • the present invention provides patient unit transceiver units that incorporate a selection of small buttons that allow the patient to designate the specific type transmission he or she wishes to make.
  • the health care provider transceiver unit provides a variety of control buttons that allow the user to selectively receive, relay, or acknowledge a transmission or to initiate one in a fashion similar to that for the patient unit.
  • the satellite station unit incorporates transceiver capabilities and may be staffed by a third party individual within the communication system and/or may operate automatically to relay messages on communication lines between other transceiver units within the system.
  • the satellite station unit incorporates a wireless telephone switching system connected to a plurality of wireless telephone broadcast antennas throughout the localized area within which the system operates. This permits a large number of independent communications to occur simultaneously much as in local area multichannel cordless telephone systems.
  • the present invention incorporates a master command unit that is hard wired to each of the satellite stations in a manner that allows the transmission of relevant data between the master command unit and the satellite stations, such data being pertinent to the identification of the individual transceiver units, their interactive responsibilities, and their possible locations.
  • the master command unit also incorporates communication ports and external modem ports that permit the relay of communications in the nature of telephone calls from within the system to outside telephone switching networks.
  • Fig. 2 is a detailed block diagram showing the functional components of the mobile transceiver units identified as “nurse units” in Fig. 1 or "remote response unit” in the text.
  • Fig. 3 is a detailed block diagram showing the functional components of the semi-mobile transceiver unit identified as "patient units” in Fig. 1 or "nurse aid unit” in the text.
  • Fig. 4 is a detailed block diagram showing the functional components of the fixed transceiver unit as "station units” in Fig. 1 or “nurse's station unit” in the text.
  • Fig. 5 is a detailed block diagram showing the functional components of the fixed control unit identified as "master command unit” in Fig. 1 and in the text.
  • FIG. 1 The functional block diagram shown in Fig. 1 is a representative portion of a system that could vary in size and therefore, in the number of modular units according to the needs of the environment.
  • the system shown in Fig. 1 incorporates a single master level unit, which would be typical in most every instance, and two representative satellite station units, which would likely be small in number as compared to a standard installation.
  • the remaining modular units shown in Fig. 1 are intended to be representative of a total and would, in most cases, be only a section or a small portion of the overall installation.
  • a hospital for example, there may be a patient unit for each and every bed, which, for some hospitals, might number in the thousands.
  • the nurse units shown in Fig. 1 the numbers would be significantly greater than those represented.
  • the present invention incorporates master command unit 10. Typically only one such master command unit 10 would exist for any specific installation. Master command unit 10 is in hard wire communication with satellite station units 12 and 14, again representing perhaps a larger number of such units, all of which would be in communication with master communication unit 10. Satellite station unit 12 in the representative example shown in Fig. 1 is capable of directly communicating with nurse unit 16 shown in communication area D as well as nurse unit 18 shown in communication area E. Likewise, satellite station unit 12 is capable of communicating with patient units 22 and 24 within communication area D, patient units 26 and 28 within communication area E, and patient unit 30 within communication area F. Satellite station unit 14 is capable of communicating with nurse unit 20 within communication area C, as well as patient units 32 and 34 within communication area A, patient units 36 and 38 within communication area B, and patient unit 40 within communication area C.
  • the various communication areas A through F are established by means of localized wireless transmission areas generating from low power transmissions via an array of antennas, one within each communication area.
  • antenna 42 establishes communication area D in a localized area as does antenna 44 communication area E, antenna 46 communication area F, antenna 48 communication area A, antenna 50 communication area B, and, finally, antenna 52 communication area C.
  • the primary functional components of satellite station units 12 and 14 are wireless telephone switches 60 and 70, respectively. These wireless telephone switching systems incorporate low power broadcast transceivers that can both generate and relay communications among the units within the system. As indicated above, the technologies and methods associated with the wireless communication protocols described herein mimic closely the technology and methods associated with local area wireless telephone communications such as those associated with spread-spectrum systems and the more recent 900 MHz cordless telephone transceiver systems. The purpose of this wireless telephone switching system is to permit multiple communications to occur within a limited set of frequencies within a given area.
  • the low power transmissions permit a communication to occur between a unit within communication area D and antenna 42 therein, at a frequency identical to a communication that might at the same time be occurring between patient unit 40 in communication area C and antenna 52 located therein.
  • the objective is to permit a large number of communications to occur over a selected few frequency bands.
  • This is essentially the same technology that permits the use of a number of cordless phones, within a given localized area, whose transmission and reception frequency ranges are the same as similar devices within the same area or within adjacent local areas.
  • Other technologies associated with wireless telephone switching systems are also incorporated in the system of the present invention.
  • the ability of a wireless telephone switching system to "hand off" a mobile unit is utilized as, for example, nurse unit 20 in communication area C may be handed off to a different communication area automatically without the breakdown of the established communication link.
  • satellite station units 12 and 14 are also capable of originating transmissions and being the destination of other transmissions received at the station unit. Satellite station units 12 and 14, therefore, incorporate speakers 66 and 76 so as to broadcast messages to an individual staffing the units and microphones 68 and 78 to permit the origination of communications from the units.
  • satellite station units 12 and 14 incorporate computer displays 62 and 72 as well as computer keyboard entry devices 64 and 74. The combination of displays 62 and 72 and keyboards 64 and 74 permit an individual staffing the station unit to manually control, monitor, and log the communications within the system that the station unit is responsible for. These functions are described in more detail below.
  • satellite station units 12 and 14 are connected to antennas 42 through 52 by way of separate coaxial transmission lines generally grouped as 54 and 56.
  • Each satellite station unit would be responsible for a specified number of communication areas, each of such areas would therein contain an antenna independently attached to the satellite station unit.
  • 10 or more such communication areas might derive from a single satellite station unit and would be associated with as few as one patient room per communication area or as many as four or five patient rooms per communication area depending upon the size of the environment, the power level of the transmissions, and the potential for interference within the environment.
  • the identification of the location of the unit may not depend upon pre-stored data with respect to that unit, but would depend upon the ability to transmit and receive coded identification signals such that only the intended mobile unit would be alerted to an incoming communication.
  • the technology and processes associated with such requirements are well known in the field of local area wireless telephone communications. Similar processes and procedures are incorporated in the present invention wherein a recurrant identification of the location for a particular mobile unit may be maintained whenever the unit itself is powered on and in communication. A background identification transmission, therefore, occurs as a mobile unit moves from area to area and the location identification information in master command unit 10 is up-dated.
  • Master command unit 10 would be initially programmed with unit identifications and system structure information by way of display 82, keyboard 84, and programming of CPU 80.
  • Diskette drives 88 and data storage 86 provide the necessary records for maintaining both the structure of the system and the identities of the units within it.
  • Modem ports 92 allow master command unit 10 to communicate by way of hard wire communication lines 98 to external phone lines 94 and an external phone switching network.
  • a detailed block diagram of the functional components of a "remote response unit” generally designated as “nurse units” in Fig. 1 is provided.
  • the central element of the remote response unit is a wireless transceiver circuit 100 that provides the means for transmitting and receiving communications and messages as well as the above mentioned identification signals and acknowledgements.
  • Wireless transceiver circuit 100 is a low power, local area transceiver capable of receiving and broadcasting transmissions over an area generally limited to a line of sight range of 30 to 60 feet. The purpose of this limited power is that described above with respect to the advantages of multiple communications occurring over the same frequency within a larger environment that includes many communication areas.
  • the remote response unit is intended to be completely mobile in nature and to be easily carried by a health care provider in a hospital environment.
  • Wireless transceiver circuit 100 is, therefore, powered by a small DC power supply 104, typically a rechargeable battery.
  • Charger connector 106 provides a means for recharging the power supply 104 either within the remote response unit or removed from the unit.
  • Ancillary to wireless transceiver circuit 100 is pulse tone generator 108 appropriate for signaling purposes and/or for generating telephone number, unit identification, and other signal control frequency pulses typically utilized in wireless telephone communication systems. Pulse tone generator 108 provides all the necessary communication protocols not provided by voice transmissions.
  • Wireless transceiver circuit 100 is connected to audio amplifier 110 and thereby to speaker 112 for the broadcast of
  • wireless transceiver circuit 100 is connected to microphone 114 directly for the reception of voice transmissions from the individual using the unit and indirectly through voice activating circuitry 116, which simply alerts wireless transceiver circuitry 100 and activates the necessary elements within the circuitry to the reception of a voice transmission through microphone 114.
  • Wireless transceiver circuit 100 is capable of receiving non-voice signal transmissions and relaying appropriate signals, numeric indications, and displays through display driver 118 to alphanumeric display 120 and to LED indicator 122. Uses and capabilities of alphanumeric display 120 and LED indicator 122 will be described in more detail below. Wireless transceiver circuit 100 accomplishes its radio frequency low power transmissions and receptions by way of antenna 102.
  • Control switches 124, 126, and 128 allow the user to direct the wireless transceiver circuit 100 to address or call a specific communications path, again, by way of coded signal information transmitted by the unit.
  • Control switch 124 allows the user to select transmission or reception to or from a satellite station unit such as unit 12 in Fig. 1. By pressing a momentary button switch for control switch 124, the user "opens a channel" between the transceiver unit and the satellite station unit associated with the communications area that the remote response unit is located within.
  • control switch 126 establishes a communication path between the remote response unit and a patient unit such as patient unit 30 shown in Fig. 1.
  • control switch 128 establishes communication between the remote response unit and a second remote response unit as appropriate. In most instances, these control switches would be touched and activated by the user when a communication has been directed to the remote response unit from another source. These buttons would, therefore, act as acknowledgements and clearances to receive a message from the transmitter.
  • the remote response mobile unit described in Fig. 2 does not incorporate a means for independently specifying a specific patient or other remote response unit that a transmission response is to be directed toward.
  • a key pad on a standard wireless telephone would generally provide such a means for selecting a particular destination for a transmission. While such a key pad could be incorporated into the remote response unit as shown in Fig. 2, it is anticipated in the preferred embodiment that alternative means for directing a communication are available and the benefits of the simplicity of the system shown outweigh the advantages of having the key pad available.
  • the remote response unit will display the numeric room number for the patient and allow the nurse to (1) respond directly to the patient, (2) respond to the station unit so as to request that someone else respond to the patient, or (3) respond to another nurse in the vicinity (as identified by data in the master command unit) .
  • the user would, absent the indication of an incoming communication, touch one of the control buttons 124, 126, and 128, and would immediately be connected to a staff person located at the satellite station unit that had control over the communication areas that the remote response unit is in. If communication is desired with the satellite station unit, such transmission and reception would thereafter be carried out.
  • the individual staffing the satellite station unit would either be so notified verbally by the remote response unit user or would receive indications of the same on the display at the satellite station unit pursuant to signals generated by the appropriate button 126 and 128 having been pressed by the
  • a particular unit assigned to a patient might preferably travel with the patient, not only within the wing of the hospital, but in instances where the patient might be moved from one room to another or might proceed from a recovery room to a patient room over a period of days.
  • the "semi-mobile" patient units of the present invention in fact be fully mobile since their specific location can be confirmed by way of the previously mentioned signal identification system and/or through manual programming of the master control unit.
  • the system would be capable of modifying the location information depending upon actual location as confirmed by the signal identification means.
  • the central functional element of the nurse aid unit or patient unit is wireless transceiver circuit 130.
  • Wireless transceiver circuit 130 is powered by DC power supply 134, again, a battery in the preferred embodiment.
  • DC power supply 134 again, a battery in the preferred embodiment.
  • an AC to DC charger 136 is provided and may act as the semi- permanent repository of the unit adjacent to the patient's bed. It is not uncommon for either cordless telephones or pager units and the like to be placed within chargers while power to the unit is maintained on for the reception and transmission of communications. Such a procedure and structure would be implemented in the present invention.
  • Pulse tone generator 138 serves the same function as described above with respect to the remote response unit in Fig. 2.
  • audio amplifier 140, speaker 142, microphone 144, and voice activation circuitry 146 all carry out the necessary transmission and reception functions for the transceiver unit.
  • Display driver 148 is similar to the display driver shown in Fig. 2 and controls alphanumeric display 150, LED indicator 152, and, in this case, a supplemental vibrator indicator 154. It is anticipated that the patient unit may require a silent signal in lieu of a visual signal.
  • Activation of wireless transceiving circuit 130 is accomplished either by way of voice activation circuitry 146 or through manual activation of control switches 156 and 158. Functioning similar to the nurse unit control switches described above, switch 156 initiates a voice path communication signal and switch 158 initiates a coded non- voice communication signal. Switch 158 may be used in the case of an effort to call a station or in an emergency situation. Switch 156 would simply be a means for initiating communication between the patient unit, and a satellite station unit or a nurse's remote unit.
  • Fig. 4 Since the satellite station unit acts as the central hub for a plurality of communication areas, one of its central functional features is wireless telephone switching circuitry 160.
  • Telephone switch 160 is connected by way of hard wire coaxial cables to each of the communication area antennas as described above in Fig. 1. Coupled with wireless telephone switch 160 is a hard wire telephone switch 176 which serves two purposes. First, it accomplishes the relay of communication paths from units within the system to other units within the same system by routing them back through wireless telephone switch 160 through the appropriate antenna coaxial cable.
  • a call coming in from a patient unit within a first communication area within the local area group to a second communication area also under the control of the same station unit would be routed through wireless telephone switch 160 to telephone switch 176 back through wireless telephone switch 160 and out through a second coaxial cable line.
  • telephone switch 176 serves to direct communication paths from units within the communication area group under the control of the particular station unit through to other station units as described in more detail below. Since the station units must act as transceiver units themselves, an appropriate telephone transceiver circuit 178 is coupled with audio amplifier 180, speaker 166, and microphone 168 to provide the necessary transmission and reception capabilities. For communication paths outside of the system under the control of this particular station unit, telephone ports 182 direct a number of hard wire communication lines to the master command unit for subsequent distribution and switching to the appropriate destinations. All of this is accomplished under the control of CPU 170 which has contained within it specific commands and data for appropriately identifying, directing and controlling the communication paths.
  • This information can be reprogrammed or can be supplemented from information contained in the master command unit by way of serial communication port 184. It is anticipated that the satellite units are in constant data communication with the master command unit by way of serial communication port 184 in addition to telephone ports 182 that permit constant voice and signal communication paths between the units .
  • the station unit is powered from DC power source 172 by way of uninterruptable power supply 174. Use of the satellite station unit is facilitated by display 162 and keyboard 164. In addition, certain actions commonly required of an individual staffing the satellite station unit are provided for by way of control hot keys 186. Examples of control hot keys 186 would include an answer back signal, a numeric pad with transmission relay buttons for situations where the individual staffing the satellite unit receives a request to complete a communication path to a specific patient unit, or other such common control actions.
  • the central functional element of the master command unit is CPU 190 which serves to control serial communication ports 198 that are in datalink communication with each of the satellite station units within the system. It is through serial communication ports 198 that identification data and location information are provided to each of the satellite units and through which appropriate switching of the communication paths can occur. As indicated above, parallel to serial communication ports 198, are telephone ports 200, which provide the actual hard wire communication paths that transmissions and receptions through the system may travel.
  • Fig. 1 For a description of the establishment of a typical communication path within the system of the present invention.
  • Patient unit 32 for example, in Fig. 1 might initiate a communication with the appropriate health care provider for the patient by pressing the transmit signal button 158 (Fig. 3) on the patient unit. This would initiate a transmission to antenna 48 within communication area A of a signal appropriate for establishing a communication path to the nurse unit associated with this particular communication area group.
  • Antenna 48 relays this signal communication by way of coaxial cable 56 to station unit 14 wherein it is received and acknowledged as a request to communicate with or signal the nurse or the health care provider assigned responsibility for that patient. If the nurse is within the system under the control of satellite station 14, as with nurse unit 20 shown in communication area C, station unit 14 would confirm this and redirect the signal transmission back along the appropriate coaxial cable 56 to antenna 52 within communication area C and thereafter to nurse unit 20. On the other hand, assuming that the health care provider associated with patient unit 32 is in fact nurse unit 18. Not being within the same communication area group, the communication from patient unit 32, after being conveyed to station unit 14, would have to be routed to station unit 12 through the appropriate communication ports 90 in master command unit 10.
  • Nurse unit 20 for example, located in communication area C in Fig. 1 would initiate a transmission by pressing the appropriate button, which would signal the request for a communications path to station unit 1 .
  • the individual associated with nurse unit 20 would have to identify the desired destination to the staff individual handling station unit 14.
  • station unit 14 would establish communication path, again through master command unit 10 to station unit 12 to nurse unit 18, for example, in communication area E.
  • any communication path may be established whether within a station unit's communication area group or to another communication area group by way of master command unit 10.
  • An ancillary function of the system described and mentioned briefly above involves the logging and tracking of accountability for responses under requests made within the system.
  • a nurse unit that has been notified of a communication request may, depending on the circumstances, acknowledge and respond to the request by opening a communications path to the patient requesting the same or may request other nurse units to respond to this communication path request and the patient's needs.
  • This alternate response could be directed to other nurse units, in general within a specified area, a backup nurse unit whose identity is programmed into the system, or simply to the station unit which would thereafter select an appropriate backup destination for the request.
  • a variety of protocols could be programmed into the system depending upon the specific needs of the environment, the number of health care providers, and the nature of the patient's request.
  • the patient unit is anticipated to also include the ability to designate an emergency condition that would prompt signals calculated to bring about a more immediate response.
  • a specific button pressed by the patient on the patient unit could prompt not only transmission to the nurse unit associated with that patient, but to any and all nurse units within communication areas immediately adjacent to the patient unit.
  • Such an emergency signal could at the same time designate a response from the staff individual at the station unit associated with that communication area group.
  • one of the goals of the present invention is to provide a versatile, flexible system that can be configured according to the particular environment needs and the number of individuals within the system. Even within a specific application, such as a hospital environment, the system can be programmed to accommodate protocols that vary according to established hospital procedures and/or specific hospital wing requirements. Who receives a transmission and who is obligated to respond can all be programmed and handled differently depending upon the protocol desired by the user.
  • a specific application such as a hospital environment
  • the system can be programmed to accommodate protocols that vary according to established hospital procedures and/or specific hospital wing requirements.
  • Who receives a transmission and who is obligated to respond can all be programmed and handled differently depending upon the protocol desired by the user.
  • Each of these variations falls within the scope of the present invention insofar as its modular nature lends itself to each of these various configurations.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
  • Measuring And Recording Apparatus For Diagnosis (AREA)

Abstract

Système de communication à structure modulaire destiné à être utilisé dans une zone localisée telle qu'un environnement hospitalier, et comprenant des émetteurs-récepteurs sans fil pour des individus effectivement immobilisés tels que des patients (22-40), des émetteurs-récepteurs sans fil pour des individus entièrement mobiles tels que le personnel soignant (16-20), des unités auxiliaires fixes situées à proximité d'une zone dans laquelle les émetteurs-récepteurs des patients et du personnel soignant doivent fonctionner (12, 14) et, enfin une unité de commande maîtresse (10) se trouvant généralement en une position centrale unique dans l'hôpital, qui relie toutes les unités auxiliaires, et, ainsi, chacun des émetteurs-récepteurs sans fil modulaires du système. L'unité de commande maîtresse est principalement responsable de la mise à jour des données se rapportant aux éléments dans le système, et de la communication des transmissions téléphoniques de l'intérieur du système vers l'extérieur par des lignes de commutation téléphoniques et/ou un modem.
PCT/US1995/007736 1994-06-17 1995-06-19 Systeme de communication sans fil multiniveau pour hopitaux WO1995035634A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU28649/95A AU2864995A (en) 1994-06-17 1995-06-19 Multilevel wireless communication system for hospitals

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US08/261,152 1994-06-17
US08/261,152 US5537459A (en) 1994-06-17 1994-06-17 Multilevel cellular communication system for hospitals
US41308295A 1995-03-29 1995-03-29
US08/413,082 1995-03-29

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WO1995035634A1 true WO1995035634A1 (fr) 1995-12-28

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Cited By (5)

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WO1998008203A1 (fr) * 1996-08-23 1998-02-26 Hill-Rom, Inc. Systeme d'appel patient/infirmiere
EP0876073A2 (fr) * 1997-05-01 1998-11-04 AT&T Corp. Téléphone à deux modes pour des réseaux sans fils et des réseaux cellulaires
WO1999024899A2 (fr) * 1997-11-07 1999-05-20 Hill-Rom, Inc. Dispositif de communication et d'entree de donnees
US6285857B1 (en) 1997-05-01 2001-09-04 At&T Corp. Multi-hop telecommunications system and method
GB2365683A (en) * 2000-04-25 2002-02-20 Simon D Fisher A person or object locating and personal information system

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JPH0350951A (ja) * 1989-07-19 1991-03-05 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd インタホン装置
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US4790000A (en) * 1985-12-11 1988-12-06 Hitachi, Ltd. Portable radio telephone system
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Cited By (11)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1998008203A1 (fr) * 1996-08-23 1998-02-26 Hill-Rom, Inc. Systeme d'appel patient/infirmiere
EP1017032A2 (fr) * 1996-08-23 2000-07-05 Hill-Rom, Inc. Procédé de communication de patient/infirmière
EP1018715A1 (fr) * 1996-08-23 2000-07-12 Hill-Rom, Inc. Procede de communication de patient/infirmiere
EP1017032A3 (fr) * 1996-08-23 2000-07-12 Hill-Rom, Inc. Procédé de communication de patient/infirmière
EP1020827A1 (fr) * 1996-08-23 2000-07-19 Hill-Rom, Inc. Procede de communication de patient/infirmiere
EP0876073A2 (fr) * 1997-05-01 1998-11-04 AT&T Corp. Téléphone à deux modes pour des réseaux sans fils et des réseaux cellulaires
EP0876073A3 (fr) * 1997-05-01 2000-03-01 AT&T Corp. Téléphone à deux modes pour des réseaux sans fils et des réseaux cellulaires
US6285857B1 (en) 1997-05-01 2001-09-04 At&T Corp. Multi-hop telecommunications system and method
WO1999024899A2 (fr) * 1997-11-07 1999-05-20 Hill-Rom, Inc. Dispositif de communication et d'entree de donnees
WO1999024899A3 (fr) * 1997-11-07 1999-09-16 Hill Rom Co Inc Dispositif de communication et d'entree de donnees
GB2365683A (en) * 2000-04-25 2002-02-20 Simon D Fisher A person or object locating and personal information system

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