System and method for regulating electronic message transmissions

• US 10,218,658 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2017
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intercontinental Exchange Holdings, Inc. (Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Intercontinental Exchange Holdings, Inc. (Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.)
• Inventors: Parizhsky, Vladimir, Lebedev, Alexei, Cornish, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Minh Chau
• Application Number:
  US15/668,485
• Publication Number:
  US 20170331775A1
• Time in Patent Office: 572 Days
• Field of Search: 709203, 709204-206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities

Abstract

Systems and methods for regulating electronic messages transmissions. A message delay system is disposed between one or more first entities and a second entity within at least one network. Electronic messages are received from among at least one the first entities and the second entity at one or more message arrival times. A message delay component applies a delay to each received electronic message, based on a predefined delay time common to all of the first entities and a first entity delay offset associated with a first entity that is associated with the received message. The first entity delay offset is based on a geographical origin of the first entity relative to a geographical origin of the second entity. Each delayed message is transmitted to a designated recipient via the network, where the designated recipient is among the second entity and the first entities.

Claims

1. A system for control of electronic message transmissions, the system comprising:

one or more first entities communicatively coupled to one or more second entities via at least one network, at least one of said one or more first entities exchanging electronic messages with at least one of said one or more second entities, each of said one or more first entities and said one or more second entities comprising at least one computing device including a non-transitory memory and at least one processor executing computer-readable instructions stored in said non-transitory memory; and

a message delay system disposed between said one or more first entities and said one or more second entities within said at least one network, the message delay system comprising one or more computing devices including a non-transitory memory and at least one processor executing computer-readable instructions stored in said non-transitory memory, the message delay system including;

an input interface receiving the electronic messages from among the one or more first entities and the one or more second entities at one or more message arrival times, via the at least one network,

a message delay component applying;

a common predefined delay time, generated by the message delay system, to all of said electronic messages,

a first delay offset, generated by the message delay system, to at least one message of said electronic messages, and

a second delay offset that is different from the first delay offset, generated by the message delay system, to at least one other message of said electronic messages,

such that the message delay system delays transmission of the electronic messages in accordance with the applied common predefined delay time, the first delay offset and second delay offset,

the common predefined delay, the first delay offset and the second delay offset being a function of at least one of entity geographical location, communication medium, network propagation characteristics and messaging attributes; and

an output interface transmitting all of the electronic messages to their designated recipients via the at least one network,

wherein each of the input interface and the output interface comprises an application stored in the non-transitory memory of the one or more computing devices, and the message delay component comprises at least one of a software delay line element (SDLE) and a hardware delay line element (HDLE), and

wherein the at least one message having the first delay offset and the at least one other message having the second delay offset arrive at their respective designated recipients at a same or similar time.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the message delay system stores, for each first entities, a corresponding delay offset in one or more records associated with said one or more first entities, said one or more records further comprising one or more messaging attributes associated with said corresponding one or more first entities.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the message delay system:

identifies, for each of the electronic messages, one or more messaging attributes in said electronic messages, and

identifies a first entity among the one or more first entities associated with the corresponding electronic messages, by matching the identified one or more messaging attributes to corresponding attributes among the one or more records.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the message delay system retrieves the corresponding delay offset from among the one or more records based on the identified first entity.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the message delay system identifies one or more further attributes in said electronic messages, and modifies the retrieved delay offset based on the identified one or more further attributes.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein a corresponding delay offset is measured, for a first entity among the one or more first entities, based on a total cross-connect (TCC) propagation delay between a client ingress point (CIP) associated with said first entity and a downstream ingress point (DIP) associated with a second entity among the one or more second entities.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the corresponding delay offset is measured, for said first entity, between an active client ingress point (CIP) component associated with said first entity and said DIP associated with said second entity.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the corresponding delay offset is measured, for each of the electronic messages, between the active CIP component and the DIP based on an in-band measurement technique.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the in-band measurement technique comprises determining the corresponding delay offset based on a difference between a remote timestamp applied to said corresponding electronic messages by the active CIP component and a local timestamp applied by the message delay component.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the corresponding delay offset is periodically measured between the active CIP component and the DIP based on an out-of-band measurement technique.

11. The system according to claim 6, wherein, for said first entity, the corresponding measured delay offset is stored in a record associated with said first entity, prior to the exchange of the electronic messages.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the message delay component comprises:

a message departure time module determining a departure time for each of the electronic messages based on the common predefined delay time common to all of said electronic messages;

a message queue storing the electronic messages positioned in the message queue according to the respective departure times; and

a message queue controller transmitting each of the electronic messages to the respective designated recipients according to the respective departure times via the message queue.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the message delay component further comprises:

a timestamp module applying a timestamp to each of the electronic messages at the input interface,

wherein the message departure time module determines, for each of the electronic messages, the departure times based at least in part on the respective applied timestamp and the common predefined delay time.

14. The system according to claim 12, wherein the message queue controller transmits each of the electronic messages via the message queue based on a comparison between the respective departure times and a current wall clock time of the message delay component.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein the message delay component comprises a plurality of hardware delay elements associated with the one or more first entities, each of the hardware delay elements applying a delay based at least in part on the common predefined delay time.

16. A method of controlling of electronic message transmissions, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a message delay system disposed between one or more first entities and one or more second entities within at least one network, the one or more first entities communicatively coupled to the one or more second entities via the at least one network, each first entity exchanging electronic messages with at least one of said one or more second entities, said message delay system comprising an input interface, an output interface and a message delay component;

receiving, via the input interface of the message delay system, the electronic messages from among the one or more first entities and the one or more second entities at one or more message arrival times, via the at least one network;

generating, by the message delay system, a common predefined delay time and applying, by the message delay component, the common predefined delay time to all of said electronic messages;

generating, by the message delay system, a first delay offset and applying, by the message delay component, said first delay offset to at least one message of said electronic messages;

generating, by the message delay system, a second delay offset, different from the first delay offset, and applying, by the message delay component, the second delay offset to at least one other message of said electronic messages,

the common predefined delay, the first delay offset and the second delay offset being a function of at least one of entity geographical location, communication medium, network propagation characteristics and messaging attributes;

delaying, by the message delay system, transmission of the electronic messages in accordance with the applied common predefined delay time, the first delay offset and second delay offset; and

transmitting, via the output interface of the message delay system, all of the electronic messages to their respective designated recipients via the at least one network,

wherein the at least one message having the first delay offset and the at least one other message having the second delay offset arrive at their respective designated recipients at a same or similar time.

17. The method according to claim 16, the method further comprising storing, for each of the one or more first entities, a corresponding delay offset in one or more records associated with said one or more first entities, said one or more records further comprising one or more messaging attributes associated with said corresponding one or more first entities.

18. The method according to claim 17, the method further comprising:

identifying, for each of the electronic messages, one or more messaging attributes in said electronic messages,

identifying a first entity among the one or more first entities associated with the corresponding electronic messages, by matching the identified one or more messaging attributes to corresponding attributes among the one or more records; and

retrieving the corresponding delay offset from among the one or more records based on the identified first entity.

19. The method according to claim 18, the method further comprising:

identifying one or more further attributes in said electronic messages; and

modifying the retrieved delay offset based on the identified one or more further attributes.

20. The method according to claim 16, the method further comprising measuring a corresponding delay offset, for a first entity among the one or more first entities, based on a total cross-connect (TCC) propagation delay between a client ingress point (CIP) associated with said first entity and a downstream ingress point (DIP) associated with a second entity among the one or more second entities.

21. The method according to claim 20, the method further comprising measuring the corresponding delay offset, for said first entity, between an active client ingress point (CIP) component associated with said first entity and said DIP associated with said second entity.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the corresponding delay offset is periodically measured between the active CIP component and the DIP based on an out-of-band measurement technique.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein the corresponding delay offset is measured, for each of the electronic messages, between the active CIP component and the DIP, based on a difference between a remote timestamp applied to said corresponding electronic messages by the active CIP component and a local timestamp applied by the message delay component.

24. The method according to claim 20, wherein, for said first entity, the corresponding measured delay offset is stored in a record associated with said first entity, prior to the exchange of the electronic messages.

25. The method according to claim 16, the method further comprising:

determining, by a message departure time module of the message delay component, a departure time for each of the electronic messages based on the common predefined delay time common to all of said electronic messages;

storing, via a message queue of the message delay component, the electronic messages, positioned in the message queue according to the respective departure times; and

transmitting, by a message queue controller of the message delay component, each of the electronic messages to the respective designated recipients according to the respective departure times via the message queue.

26. The method according to claim 25, the method further comprising:

applying, by a timestamp module of the message delay component, a timestamp to each of the electronic messages at the input interface;

wherein each of the departure times is based on the respective applied timestamp and at least in part on the common predefined delay time.

27. The method according to claim 25, the method further comprising:

transmitting, by the message queue controller, each of the electronic messages via the message queue based on a comparison between the respective departure times and a current wall clock time of the message delay component.

28. The method according to claim 16, wherein the message delay component comprises a plurality of hardware delay elements associated with the one or more first entities, the method further comprising applying, by each of the hardware delay elements, a delay based at least in part on the common predefined delay time.

29. A system for control of electronic message transmissions, the system comprising:

at least one first entity communicatively coupled to at least one second entity via at least one network, the at least one first entity exchanging electronic messages with one or more of said at least one second entity, each of said at least one first entity and said at least one second entity comprising at least one computing device including a non-transitory memory and at least one processor executing computer-readable instructions stored in said non-transitory memory; and

a message delay system disposed between said first entity and said at least one second entity within said at least one network, the message delay system comprising one or more computing devices including a non-transitory memory and at least one processor executing computer-readable instructions stored in said non-transitory memory, the message delay system;

receiving the electronic messages from among the at least one first entity and the at least one second entity, via the at least one network, the electronic messages including respective designated recipients,

identifying characteristics of each of the electronic messages, the characteristics including at least one of one or more messaging attributes and a first entity among the at least one first entity associated with the respective electronic messages, and

controlling, via a message delay component, transmission of the electronic messages to the respective designated recipient via the at least one network, by delaying the received electronic message according to a predetermined delay based on the corresponding identified characteristics, the message delay component comprising at least one of a software delay line element (SDLE) and a hardware delay line element (HDLE),

wherein;

the predetermined delay is associated with a common predefined delay time and at least one delay offset specifically associated with at least one of each of the respective at least one first entity and the respective one or more messaging attributes,

the message delay component applies the common predefined delay time to all of said electronic messages, applies a first delay offset of the at least one delay offset to at least one message of said electronic messages, and applies a second delay offset of the at least one delay offset different from the first delay offset to at least one other message of said electronic messages,

the message delay system transmits all of the electronic messages to the respective designated recipients such that the at least one message having the first delay offset and the at least one other message having the second delay offset arrive at their respective designated recipients at a same or similar time, and

the predetermined delay is based on at least one of a geographical origin of the respective at least one first entity, a geographical origin of the respective at least one second entity, a message propagation time along a data path between the respective at least one first entity and the respective at least one second entity, one or more network properties of the respective at least one first entity, one or more network properties of the respective at least one second entity, the one or more messaging attributes of the respective electronic messages, one or more further attributes in the respective electronic messages and one or more network properties of the at least one network.