The Awarepoint Difference: Simplicity and Scalability
“Elegant” is a word mathematicians and technologists use to describe solutions to complex problems that are remarkably simple. It is also a word that has been used to describe Awarepoint’s technologies. Awarepoint’s technologies have been designed to deliver a compelling value proposition that includes:
- Non-intrusive, rapid and “no cost” implementations
- Defined area location accuracy (at room level, in hallways and in open waiting areas)
- Long tag battery life and low cost, low-maintenance operations
- Intuitive and easy-to-use interfaces
Awarepoint technologies provide arguably the most “elegant” solution for addressing both the economic and technical requirements associated with delivering real-time location awareness applications for use in dynamic, technologically and operationally challenging environments such as hospitals.
Awarepoint derives its competitive advantages from:
- Its use of 802.15.4 and ZigBee mesh networking standards
- The strength of its positioning engine algorithms and software
- The design of its tags and sensors
In addition to using IEEE standards that are both well-documented and safe, Awarepoint has developed a patented plug-in sensor design that makes sensor network deployment extremely simple and cost effective. As soon as a sensor is plugged in, it automatically becomes a network “node” that can collect and route data received from Awarepoint tags across the mesh to a coordinating bridge node which then forwards data to Awarepoint’s RTLS components for interpretation.
Each node on an Awarenet network is self-routing and able to connect to other nodes. Connections between nodes are dynamically updated and optimized as required. These ad-hoc routing capabilities give each Awarenet the ability to automatically re-route messages in case of a node failure that might occur anywhere in the mesh.
These characteristics make Awarepoint solutions:
- Highly scalable (a ZigBee network can scale to > 65,000 active devices)
- Easily modifiable for use in dynamic environments
- Easily deployed by technicians with minimal technical training
The Awarepoint solution is 100% wireless and co-exists with other hospital infrastructure technologies, such as LAN’s, WLAN’s (WiFi), and the growing variety of network-enabled and wireless medical equipment. Awarepoint uses standard XML Web Service API’s to integrate with existing systems and avoid the technical and economic drawbacks inherent to a proprietary infrastructure.
For more about The Awarepoint Difference, contact us.
