By Yves Padrines, VP, Global Service Provider EMEAR, Cisco

Broadband meets content meets transformation through innovation at this year's ANGA COM gathering, scheduled to run three days from June 7-9 in Cologne, Germany.

ANGA COM is one of my favorites in the trade show cycle, because it's such a focused marketplace for network operators, content providers and their suppliers, all over Europe. The big topics this year are next-gen networks, the Internet of Things, TV Everywhere, Personalized TV, Multiscreen, IP Video and Wi-Fi - all subjects near and dear to us.

We'll be there in stand H21, in Hall 10.2, with demos ranging from IP network transformation, Gigabit services, cloud-powered video, service agility and the ever-important thread through all of it - security.

Specifically, we'll be showing our cBR-8, the industry's first DOCSIS 3.1 / CCAP platform, already making major strides with 90 operators on three continents. That means throughput of 10 Gigabits per second downstream, and 1 Gbps upstream - vitally important in these times of shipping video sourced from smart phones and tablets.

On the next-gen network front, come see our Remote PHY work to take fiber deeper, with different configurations of shelves and nodes to suit all architectural/topological implementations already in the field. Speaking of which - we've also developed analog nodes and amplifiers designed for DOCSIS 3.1 upgrades, on the compact form factor preferred in Europe.

It wouldn't be a next-gen network if it didn't include some mention of SDN (Software Defined Networking) - we'll be showing our work on cable-specific SDN virtualization and orchestration, including SDN capabilities on the cBR8, to enable service velocity and to simplify operations.

On the services side, we will also be showing off our Pro-active Network Maintenance (PNM) solution that allows operators to reduce OPEX by pro-actively detecting any network issues within an accuracy of 10 meters! We provide this as a Services (AAS) to support the move from reactive maintenance models to one that's pro-active, cost effective, at the same time improving the end-customer experience.

We will also demonstrate our Video Quality Monitoring (VQM) solution that continuously monitors the user experience -from signal acquisition to playout, to any end device -any time, anywhere, over any network. Cisco orchestrated partnership with best of breed partners Skyline, Mariner and NimbleThis in building our VQM solution.

To satisfy the trends around immersive 4K video and HDR (High Dynamic Range) encoding, orchestrating cloud-based services, and open media distribution for CDNs (Content Distribution Networks), we'll have on hand our popular V2P (Virtualized Video Processing) line. It promises to accelerate service velocity by blending Cisco and third party applications across cloud environments, while reducing total cost of ownership and transforming CDN economics.

Connected Home? Oh yes! We'll be showing our suite of Cisco Connected Home software applications, geared toward helping our service provider customers - and their subscribers - to gain better visibility, security and reliability in digital homes. That includes our HomeGuard whole-home cyber-security protection, with Connected Analytics to proactively defend against would-be digital interlopers.

Speaking of which: Our own JT Taylor, who knocked it out of the park, so to speak, on the Imagine Park stage of INTX last month, will be on-hand to answer your connected home and cyber-security questions. And he's also speaking on June 7^thon a panel about recommendations and the RDK (Reference Design Kit).

Also on the ANGA speaking roster: Yours truly, at 10 on the 7^th, about personalized television and everything that comes with it; John Downey, one of our esteemed Broadband Network Engineers, is speaking on a panel about DOCSIS 3.1 on June 8^that 11:30; and Adam Davies, our Product Marketing Manager for our Infinite Video line, will be speaking on a panel about Multi-screen technologies on June 9^that 2:45.

Please come by and say hello in Cologne. Stand H21, in Hall 10.2. See you soon!