Distributed fault tolerant architecture for a healthcare communication system
First Claim
1. A healthcare communication system comprising:
- a first plurality of computer devices operable as a nurse call system, the first plurality of computer devices having core nurse call functionality, anda second plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the first plurality of computer devices, the first plurality of computer devices being interconnected logically and/or physically in a tiered architecture arrangement to provide fault isolation among the tiers so that faults occurring in computer devices of one tier don'"'"'t affect the operability of computer devices in other tiers and so that faults occurring in any of the second plurality of computer devices don'"'"'t affect the core nurse call functionality of the first plurality of computer devices, wherein the first plurality of computer devices have the core nurse call functionality residing on an embedded computing platform, at least one of the first plurality of computer devices has a graphical display screen, and a second plurality of computer devices operable to provide the first plurality of computer devices with additional functionality via software plug-ins that are transmitted to the first plurality of computer devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A healthcare communication system includes a first plurality of computer devices operable as a nurse call system. The first plurality of computer devices has core nurse call functionality. The system also includes a second plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the first plurality of computer devices. The first plurality of computer devices are interconnected logically and/or physically in a tiered architecture arrangement to provide fault isolation among the tiers so that faults occurring in computer devices of one tier don'"'"'t affect the operability of computer devices in other tiers and so that faults occurring in any of the second plurality of computer devices don'"'"'t affect the core nurse call functionality of the first plurality of computer devices.
414 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A healthcare communication system comprising:
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a first plurality of computer devices operable as a nurse call system, the first plurality of computer devices having core nurse call functionality, and a second plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the first plurality of computer devices, the first plurality of computer devices being interconnected logically and/or physically in a tiered architecture arrangement to provide fault isolation among the tiers so that faults occurring in computer devices of one tier don'"'"'t affect the operability of computer devices in other tiers and so that faults occurring in any of the second plurality of computer devices don'"'"'t affect the core nurse call functionality of the first plurality of computer devices, wherein the first plurality of computer devices have the core nurse call functionality residing on an embedded computing platform, at least one of the first plurality of computer devices has a graphical display screen, and a second plurality of computer devices operable to provide the first plurality of computer devices with additional functionality via software plug-ins that are transmitted to the first plurality of computer devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A healthcare communication system comprising:
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a first plurality of computer devices operable as a nurse call system, the first plurality of computer devices having core nurse call functionality, and a second plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the first plurality of computer devices, the first plurality of computer devices being interconnected logically and/or physically in a tiered architecture arrangement to provide fault isolation among the tiers so that faults occurring in computer devices of one tier don'"'"'t affect the operability of computer devices in other tiers and so that faults occurring in any of the second plurality of computer devices don'"'"'t affect the core nurse call functionality of the first plurality of computer devices, wherein the core nurse call functionality comprises functionality regulated by a regulations entity and the additional functionality comprises non-regulated functionality.
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12. A healthcare communication system comprising:
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a first plurality of computer devices operable as a nurse call system, the first plurality of computer devices having core nurse call functionality, and a second plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the first plurality of computer devices, the first plurality of computer devices being interconnected logically and/or physically in a tiered architecture arrangement to provide fault isolation among the tiers so that faults occurring in computer devices of one tier don'"'"'t affect the operability of computer devices in other tiers and so that faults occurring in any of the second plurality of computer devices don'"'"'t affect the core nurse call functionality of the first plurality of computer devices, wherein at least one of the first plurality of computer devices is communicatively coupled to a hospital bed and receives bed status data from the hospital bed.
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13. A healthcare communication system comprising:
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a first plurality of computer devices operable as a nurse call system, the first plurality of computer devices having core nurse call functionality, and a second plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the first plurality of computer devices, the first plurality of computer devices being interconnected logically and/or physically in a tiered architecture arrangement to provide fault isolation among the tiers so that faults occurring in computer devices of one tier don'"'"'t affect the operability of computer devices in other tiers and so that faults occurring in any of the second plurality of computer devices don'"'"'t affect the core nurse call functionality of the first plurality of computer devices, wherein at least one computer device of the first plurality of computer devices has auto-discovery software that is operable, in response to installation of the at least on computer in the nurse call system, to detect network connectivity and to initiate communications with a device manager. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A healthcare communication system comprising:
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a first plurality of computer devices operable as a nurse call system, the first plurality of computer devices having core nurse call functionality, a second plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the first plurality of computer devices, the first plurality of computer devices being interconnected logically and/or physically in a tiered architecture arrangement to provide fault isolation among the tiers so that faults occurring in computer devices of one tier don'"'"'t affect the operability of computer devices in other tiers and so that faults occurring in any of the second plurality of computer devices don'"'"'t affect the core nurse call functionality of the first plurality of computer devices, and at least one additional computer device that is coupled to at least one of the computer devices of the first plurality or second plurality of computer devices and that incorporates Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology to separate the setting up and tearing down of voice calls between SIP enabled voice endpoint devices.
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16. A healthcare communication system comprising:
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a first plurality of computer devices operable as a nurse call system, the first plurality of computer devices having core nurse call functionality, and a second plurality of computer devices communicatively coupled to the first plurality of computer devices, the first plurality of computer devices being interconnected logically and/or physically in a tiered architecture arrangement to provide fault isolation among the tiers so that faults occurring in computer devices of one tier don'"'"'t affect the operability of computer devices in other tiers and so that faults occurring in any of the second plurality of computer devices don'"'"'t affect the core nurse call functionality of the first plurality of computer devices, wherein at least one of the first computer devices comprises a VoIP room gateway that is operable to distribute communication data to multiple voice terminals or VoIP voice endpoints installed in patient rooms and hallways.
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Specification