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Berlin Teaching Hospital Supports Videoconferencing and Remote Access on a Single Platform
| Background Rudolph Virchow Clinic, home of the medical faculty of Berlin's Humboldt University, is one of the largest and most advanced teaching hospitals in Europe. The clinic provides state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment programs to patients and top-notch educational programs to student doctors. To stay on the cutting edge of the medical profession, the hospital has long been committed to using the latest technologies to improve patient services and enhance students' education. Ten years ago, the hospital joined a consortium of 78 institutions in the Berlin area to build a fiber-optic based, integrated broadband telecommunications network called Berlin Kommunication (Berkom). The hospital used Berkom to send x-ray images between its main lecture hall, where large classes are held, and its Radiology Building, where the school's x-ray equipment is located. Lecturers used the x-rays during class sessions to teach diagnostic principles and procedures to students. The x-ray transmission system proved extremely useful in the teaching process, but had one major drawback * it didn't handle voice. Without voice transmission, students missed out on an important part of the learning process * hearing the radiologists discuss their x-rays. | Application Current Approach The Need |
Humboldt University * Previous Network
The Solution
Installing full-motion video capabilities would eliminate this problem. It would also allow students to observe the facial expressions and gestures of the radiologists, another important part of the learning process. So when Berkom was replaced by ISDN, Volker Vierroth, the data processing department staff member responsible for the development of the Clinic's video infrastructure, started looking for a quality videoconferencing system. "To satisfy the doctors, the data transfer quality of a new system had to at least equal that of the former broadband network," explained Vierroth. It also had to meet global interoperability standards, since the hospital would be setting up videoconferences with teaching institutions and medical facilities in other countries.
With the help of Ascend's remote networking equipment, Vierroth has constructed a new videoconferencing solution that meets these requirements and eliminates the problems of the old Berkom system. The system also doubles as a remote access platform by supporting incoming calls from students and staff who need access to campus computing resources from off-campus locations. "For our specific applications, Ascend was the obvious choice," stated Vierroth.
How it Works
The new solution uses two Ascend MAX 4000s. Each MAX is configured with 6 -port Ascend Inverse Multiplexer (AIM) slot cards, V.34 digital modem cards and an ISDN module. Using the AIM cards in the MAX units, Vierroth sets up an average of three videoconferences per week . The MAX is preprogrammed to establish connections transparently between the devices and negotiate the transmission speed for each connection. Videoconferencing speeds can range from 64 Kbps up to 4 Mbps.
Ascend equipment is the leader in the videoconferencing market and is considered the standard solution by video codec manufacturers and carriers worldwide. At its core is the company's pioneering inverse multiplexing technology, a method of combining multiple switched digital circuits into a single high-bandwidth data stream for speed as needed. To maximize performance, Ascend equipment also uses Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation™, a method of monitoring traffic and transparently increasing or decreasing the speed of a connection to meet fluctuating bandwidth requirements.
| The MAX has been set up to transmit videoconferences and answer remote access calls from students and staff at the same time. Calls from traditional analog modem users terminate on the digital modem cards in the MAX. Digital calls from users with ISDN BRI lines and terminal adapters or integrated access devices such as Ascend's Pipeline 25 terminate on the unit's ISDN cards. When the MAX is not handling a videoconference, its entire bandwidth is automatically allocated to remote access calls. Vierroth has already used the system to set up videoconferences with a university in Australia and a clinic in Davos, Switzerland. Future plans include establishing international videoconferences of large events that require multiple simultaneous connections, a task the MAX can easily handle. Since Ascend equipment conforms to all international inverse multiplexing standards and is certified in countries throughout Europe, North and South America and the Pacific Rim, interoperability with other vendors' videoconferencing and inverse multiplexing equipment is guaranteed. | Ascend Equipment The Benefits |
Humboldt University - Ascend Solution
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