Week 1 Topic 2

[Pongthep Miankaew]

Suppose you want to collect blood pressure data from people in certain areas using wearable blood pressure devices and bring the data to the computer system of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) for further data analysis. In your opinion, what types of network (PAN, LAN, MAN, and WAN) can be used to transmit the data from the devices to the computer system of MOPH? Please, briefly describe the advantages and disadvantages of data transmission through each type of network.

[Nichcha Subdee]

This data collection requires the use of multiple types of networks for processing.

Firstly, participants use PAN (Personal Area Network) to transfer blood pressure data from wearable devices to their mobile phones, tablets, or laptops via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The advantages of PAN include reduced network conflicts and its user-friendly simplicity, requiring minimal technical skills for usage. However, PAN’s drawback is its limited coverage area, which is suitable for smaller regions.

Secondly, the collected data needs to be transferred to the research team at the hospital. In this step, the research team gathers data from individual participants and organizes it in a specific format before sending it to the MOPH (Ministry of Public Health) for further analysis. This step uses LAN (Local Area Network) due to security and privacy concerns, as LAN operates solely within the hospital network. However, the downside is that LAN restricts external access, which can be inconvenient if the research team needs to manage the data remotely or work from home.

Finally, once the data is thoroughly organized, the research team requires WAN (Wide Area Network) to send the information to the MOPH. WAN offers the advantage of long-distance telecommunication, facilitating data sharing regardless of the geographical distance between the hospital and the MOPH. Nonetheless, there’s a risk of unauthorized access to the data, given its inclusion of participants’ private information. Therefore, the research team must implement password protection to ensure restricted access and share the data only with authorized personnel.

[Pongthep Miankaew]

Your opinion shows that you have a comprehensive understanding on computer networking topic.

Thanks,
Pongthep

[Teeraboon Lertwanichwattana]

I completely agree. However, I would like to propose the inclusion of additional information. In my opinion, it could be beneficial to integrate MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) into the research framework for each hospital team within their respective provinces. This approach takes into consideration the distinct characteristics of each city or health sector, where their provincial public health entities collect data and conduct screenings before transmitting it via WAN to the MoPH.

[Thitikan Pohpoach]

I agree with Nichcha. Thanks for your comprehensive explanation since you also help me get a better understanding of this topic. I also agree with Teeraboon that MAN could be beneficial to clinical practice.

I question whether we can jump from PAN to WAN/MAN (collecting data from wearable devices and uploading them to cloud-based services) to allow real-time streaming of data. The reliability and personal data protection should be a concern though. But is it possible? or do we have to connect it in order? Thank you

[Alongkorn Tuncharoenlarp]

If we collect data from each wearable blood pressure devices and sent them directly to the MOPH, this network is WAN??

[Pyae Thu Tun]

Thank you, Nichcha, for explaining the different network options in this scenario and also highlighting the importance of data security. As Thitikan and Alongkorn mentioned, I’m also considering using PAN and then WAN for sending the collected data to MOPH if possible. Locally, using PAN with Bluetooth to connect wearable blood pressure devices sounds practical. It’s easy for users to set up and doesn’t need much infrastructure.
For the bigger task of sending data from various places to MOPH’s main system, WAN seems like the right choice. It can cover long distances and connect straight to the MOPH system.
However, picking the right network depends on a lot of things. Factors like how big the project is, how far the data has to travel, the budget, and how fast data needs to move all matter a lot in deciding.

[Soe Htike]

PANs are suitable for short-range connections, such as between wearable devices and smartphones, but connecting multiple devices on a PAN is complicated and will delay data flow. LANs are ideal for connections within a specific location, like a hospital or health clinic, because they allow high data transfer speeds within the local area. However, LANs may not cover the entire region of interest. So, MANs are more suitable for city-wide data collection. However, if the region of interest is larger than a single city, MAN has limitations in coverage. From a coverage perspective, WANs are suitable for collecting data across regions. Centralized data analysis is feasible at the MOPH. However, more sophisticated security measures are needed to ensure data privacy and integrity.

[Panyada Cholsakhon]

I do agree with all classmates. The information such blood pressure from personal wearable devices in certain area can be transferred to personal mobile devices or laptop using bluetooth pairing which is a form of PAN. After the data is well organised using the specific application installed in the smartphone or laptop, for example, those data can be transferred to the computer system of MOPH if users and MOPH have put already the consent agreement to share personal data between these two parties. This type of information sharing will use WAN which is the largest distance telecommunication due to MOPH is the national organisation. However, even though WAN has benefit in terms of it’s suitable for long distance telecommunication (unlike LAN or MAN which cover only limited distance), the disadvantage is prone to unauthorised access of personal data.

[Suppasit Srisaeng]

Given the sensitive nature of the data and the necessity for user consent, using the Internet through a secure web application (a component of WAN) appears to be the most suitable approach. This application should leverage robust encryption techniques to safeguard the privacy and security of the transmitted data, and must incorporate provisions for user consent. Furthermore, it facilitates direct and prompt data transfer to MOPH, eliminating the need for intermediary procedures or in-person visits to clinics.

[Aphitchaya Tankhanarak]

I agree with all classmate.To collect health record data from people in various areas and transmitting it to the MOPH computer system, a combination of networks might be used.As Soe Htike and Panyada mentioned, using wearable devices could transmit data to local collection points through PANs. Then local collection points could be connected via LANs or MANs to gather the data and then transmit it to the central MOPH computer system using a WAN. But to use multiple of networks might has some limitation such as data transfer speeds and data security needs.

[Phyo]

I agree with the way of using PAN and LAN networks in the local area as my classmates mentioned above. After the LAN network, I consider that those data will be uploaded to district level office through MAN and those data from all locations in the area will be collected and verified. Finally, those data will be shared with the central level through the WAN network. But if the internet is available in remote areas of the country, clinic data will be uploaded to the district level using WAN network without MAN in between. MAN network setup is quite an expensive investment. Thus, I would rather recommend installing WAN network to cover certain areas of the country with good investment in internet security and data protection tools.

[Ching To Chung]

I think Nichcha’s initial answer is near perfect! It is necessary to divide the process into multiple steps and use the appropriate network for each step. This ensures that the characteristics of the network matches to the requirements of that step.

For the data to be trasmitted from wearable devices to the patient’s own computer devices, PAN would be the best. PAN is commonly used for short ranged communication, especially in IoT contexts like this through bluetooth/wireless technology. It is very simple to use and set up and doesn’t require technical knowhow from the patient.

Then, as mentioned by Nichcha, LAN would be an ideal choice as this ensures patient’s privacy better and restricts external access. After the researchers are ready to send the processed data, WAN should be used as the data needs to travel over long distances to be sent to the department of health. This, however, comes with a risk where public networks must be involves and patient’s data may be exposed. Therefore, it is important to do data encryption well before sending the data.

[Myat Htoo Linn]

I have the same views with all of your discussions on using different networks for transmitting data to MoPH and they all make sense. I only think the choice of the network depends on the system design and the internet availability of the people. I wonder, like “Poh”, if PAN to WAN is a direct option for sending data to MoPH with designated access authorities. This would allow real-time data, but it might cause transaction overloads in the system. Another consideration is for those areas with no internet access, the people can only send the message directly to the local level (e.g. township) through LAN, and then the local level sends the combined data to MoPH’s computer system through WAN network. This would be undertaken through data review at the local level, but it might raise privacy, confidentiality, and time issues.

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