Last month I attended Cisco Live! 2015. I’m a big fan of this conference and always feel like it’s a great event. This year was a large show with around 25,000 attendees, well over 700 sessions, hundreds of vendors, and only four days to take in as much as you can.  It is summer camp for geeks, where we get to learn new things and talk to everyone we haven’t seen since last year’s conference.

The Keynote

This year’s conference was historic as the last Cisco Live with John Chambers as the CEO of Cisco. At the end of his keynote he brought out his replacement, Chuck Robbins. They said all the things you expect them to say, but we’ll have to see how everything shakes out with the changes this brings. After 25 years with Chambers at the helm, this is going to be quite the transition for Cisco. It will be interesting to watch over the next few years, but I’m optimistic that things will go well.

The Antennas

One of the more interesting things I was able to get a close look at is the new Hyperlocation Module for Cisco APs. It uses a new version of the WSM (WSM2, I believe) and wraps around the AP. They made a cool version of the module that allows you to see the antenna arrays inside.

The idea here is that with this array of antennas, they can determine the Angle of Arrival of a Wi-Fi signal. This allows a much more precise calculation of location and with these you can improve from the previous best case of about 3m of accuracy to about 1m of accuracy. That’s some pretty precise location information. Potentially more important, this will give more flexibility in design. You no longer will need to have APs all the way out in the corners of a building to get good location information. They also said that the module is where they do their research and try out new things before including them in the AP. There is an implication that they will try to get this technology inside the next generation of APs. Imagine if all your APs just had something like this built in. Designing a wireless deployment for 5GHz might naturally be a location capable design if you choose the right APs.

I also learned about a new patch antenna. The 2513P stadium patch antenna available from Cisco has 30 degree beam width and the 2566P patch has a beam width between 105 and 120 degrees, depending on the band. They wanted something in between so there is now a 2566D that has a 60 degree beam width. If you’ve ever worked with the 2566P, you know about dealing with the cables. There just are not many good ways to install that antenna in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The 2566D helps with that. The antenna will mount flush to the wall with the cables either going straight out the bottom or straight out the back. This gives you options for a much cleaner installation.

The Dirty Jobs

The conference ended with a closing keynote from Mike Rowe, who told the story of what led to the creation of the Mike Rowe Works Foundation. Mike started the foundation to provide scholarships to those who wanted to work hard and learn a skilled trade. He was very entertaining, but had a message that things are out of whack in the US when many people are out of work, yet jobs remain unfilled. Many of those jobs are from the skilled trades such welders, plumbers, and electricians. Jobs that don’t require a college degree, yet people are racking up huge debt from student loans for an education to get a job that may not exist. Mike Rowe seems like a down to earth guy and he’s leveraged his position to do some good work. You might consider checking out http://profoundlydisconnected.com if you like the sound of what he’s doing. You can also view his keynote online at the Cisco Live on-demand library (free account required).

I have more to say, but that’s enough for now. I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference. In fact, I’m already registered!

FIN