For healthcare facilities, separate needs for wireless, nurse
call systems, building automation, patient entertainment,
video surveillance, security and fire networks ran on
different cabling infrastructures. With POL, all networks
can be converged. Furthermore, analog voice (i.e., plain
old telephone service POTS) can be delivered on the
same network as voice over internet protocol (VoIP)
unified communications. Radio frequency (RF) video
and IP video for patient entertainment, security or
medical care can all traverse the same fiber cabling and
POL infrastructure. These services and network convergence
typically save health care facilities operational
expenses (OpEx) and capital expenses (CapEx).
Extended Reach Between Buildings or Campuses
Since POL has the inherent benefit of being able to transport
healthcare services across a span 300 times longer
than copper-based LANs with no power, air conditioning,
ventilation, floor space or management needs, that means
healthcare facilities have fewer devices and LAN moving
parts to manage. It also means fewer items to purchase.
The all-fiber infrastructure can also be extended across
large regional hospital campuses to support the needs
of neighboring clinics and network physicians (Figure 9).
January/February/March 2020 I 53
POL architecture includes single
centralized active equipment,
referred to as the optical line
terminal (OLT), and simple,
passive fiber network thin-client
edge devices known as optical
network terminals (ONTs).
of telecommunications enclosures (TEs) can be reduced.
With the elimination of TRs, healthcare facilities benefit
from lower network operational costs (e.g., fewer touch
points for the IT staff), fewer power plants, less power
backup, less air conditioning load and less required
floor space.
Network Convergence
Historically, LANs were built with separate physical equipment
and cable infrastructure for voice, video and data.
Main Regional Hospital
Video
Voice
Data
Cloud
Affiliated
physician offices
within 18 miles
Affiliated
healthcare clinics
within 18 miles
18 miles, unmanaged, unpowered, passive, private optical LAN
FIGURE 9: With passive optical LANs, there is a 12-18 mile reach over the passive network. Private LANs serving
regional healthcare facilities can have lower latency, stronger security and improved performance.