Silex Technology delivers Charité Berlin network solution.

Charité in Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, extending over four campuses with more than 100 different departments and institutes, making up a total of 17 different Charité Centres. Trusted to provide medical care for the last three centuries, Charité is now one of the largest employers in Berlin, employing more than 20,000 staff and with a total annual revenue of €2.3 billion (including external funding and investment grants).

• Four campuses and some off-site and rental properties totalling 945,000 m² 
• 20,000+ employees
• More than 35,000 active devices on the LAN network and approximately 12,000 WLAN clients daily

Charité sought to shift its LAN-based medical device network to a 5 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) and required 802.1x EAP-TLS or EAP-TTLS authentication to do so.

Charité’s IT team began by equipping the SX-BR-4600WAN Ethernet-to-Wireless Bridge with WPA enterprise security. Silex provided and supported the technology through the initial definition of security and network requirements, and still maintains the solution today.

Charité’s team adopted four generations of Silex’s bridges to update Wi-Fi security and performance and should security requirements change, Silex is there to support Charité’s IT team with both updated hardware and product firmware.

When Charité’s IT team were searching for a solution, they first considered a Wi-Fi bridge from their existing network partner, but it did not support EAP-TLS. When Charité found Silex and the company’s BR-4600WAN, its IT team was able to easily set up and test one unit to ensure it would allow medical devices to connect with the WLAN system that required Charité’s authentication certificate The test was a success and Charité’s IT team adopted Silex’s bridge as a scalable solution.

Silex’s support throughout the product lifecycle was imperative when the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) published the updated TLSv1.2 protocol. Silex promptly responded to the request for assistance and has continued to be on hand to help Charité when required.

In the BR-500AC, Silex is offering the the latest enterprise Wi-Fi bridge supporting WPA3-Enterprise (128-bit mode) with TLSv1.2. 

After the first deployment of Silex’s bridges, it turned out that using external power supplies was not suitable for everyday, mobile use. As Silex also offers a Y USB cable, the team decided to power the medical devices’ USB ports to power the bridge. As a result, Charité achieved true mobility for medical devices on mobile carts. Untethering a medical device from an Ethernet cable and power supply relieves medical staff from carrying cables and locating LAN sockets and AC power outlets and having to carry around accessories. Furthermore, there is no longer any risk of LAN sockets being ripped from the wall when equipment is accidentally moved without being unplugged first.

Silex’s network security, WLAN connection reliability, and product lifecycle support all benefit Charité’s IT team as they work to protect its intellectual property and patient privacy, and maintain a secure, robust infrastructure. With this solution, Charité can ensure reliable data communications between connected medical devices throughout the hospital network.