Systems and methods for providing a customizable spreadsheet application interface for an electronic trading system

• US 20030233313A1
• Filed: 08/15/2002
• Published: 12/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Original Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Inventors: Bartolucci, John P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,793,176 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/18 of spreadsheets form-filling G06F40/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a customizable spreadsheet application interface for an electronic trading system or market data source. A customizable spreadsheet application using the application interface according to the invention may be executed or stored either at the client or at a server. In either case, a user is preferably provided with an spreadsheet interface that allows the user to implement a real time electronic trading model. The trading model may preferably be used to trade in the electronic trading system without additional user intervention.

Claims

1. An improvement in a customizable spreadsheet application, the improvement for interfacing between the customizable spreadsheet application and an electronic trading system or market data source, the improvement comprising:

an application programming interface that functions in-process with the customizable spreadsheet application to link the spreadsheet application to the electronic trading system or market data source.

2. The improvement of claim 1, further comprising a spreadsheet application user interface associated with the spreadsheet application that invokes a spreadsheet function which is provided by the application programming interface.

3. The improvement of claim 2, the spreadsheet functions including at least one of the following functions:

1) receive data from the electronic trading system or other market data source,

     2) queue data for transmission to the electronic trading system and

     3) transmit data to the electronic trading system.

4. An improvement in a customizable spreadsheet application, the improvement for interfacing between the customizable spreadsheet application and an electronic trading system or market data source, the improvement comprising:

a spreadsheet application user interface associated with the spreadsheet application; and

a multi-threaded add-in to the customizable spreadsheet application, the spreadsheet application user interface that invokes a spreadsheet function which is provided by the multi-threaded add-in, the multi-threaded add-in that links between the spreadsheet application and the electronic trading system or market data source.

5. The improvement of claim 4, the spreadsheet functions including at least one of the following functions:

1) receive data from the electronic trading system or other market data source,

     2) queue data for transmission to the electronic trading system, and

     3) transmit data to the electronic trading system.

6. A method of interfacing between a spreadsheet application and at least one of an electronic trading system and market data source using an application programming interface, the electronic trading system generating electronic trading data, the method comprising:

receiving the electronic trading data at the spreadsheet application from at least one of the electronic data system and market data source;

using a spreadsheet application user interface associated with the spreadsheet application to invoke a spreadsheet function which is provided by the application programming interface in order to perform at least one calculation on the electronic trading data;

creating a trading command based on the results of the calculation; and

queueing the trading command for transmission to the electronic trading system.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising transmitting the trading command from the spreadsheet application.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising transmitting the trading command from the spreadsheet application to the electronic trading system.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising transmitting each of a plurality of trading commands from the spreadsheet application to the electronic trading system at pre-determined intervals.

10. An apparatus having a server, the apparatus that interfaces a customizable spreadsheet application with an electronic trading system, the apparatus comprising:

a plurality of workstations, each of the plurality of workstations operative to communicate with the server, each of the workstations comprising;

a workstation storage device;

a workstation processor connected to the workstation storage device, the workstation storage device storing a workstation program for controlling the workstation processor; and

the workstation processor operative with the workstation program to;

display customizable spreadsheet application information;

receive trading model information from a user;

receive market data or information relating to market conditions; and

transmit trading commands to the server at pre-determined intervals, the transmitting being based on the trading model information and the market conditions.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, the server comprising:

a server storage device;

a server processor connected to the server storage device, the server storage device storing a server program for controlling the server processor; and

the server processor operative with the server program to transmit market data information to the plurality of workstations.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

a clearing center operative to communicate with the server, the clearing center comprising;

a clearing storage device;

a clearing processor connected to the clearing storage device, the clearing storage device that stores a clearing program for controlling the clearing processor; and

the clearing processor that is operative with the clearing program to cause a transaction that is executed based on the trading command to be completed and cleared and to verify that the transaction is completed and cleared.

13. An apparatus having a server, the apparatus that interfaces a customizable spreadsheet application with an electronic trading system, the server operative to communicate with a plurality of workstations, the server comprising:

a server storage device;

a server processor connected to the server storage device, the server storage device storing a server program for controlling the server processor; and

the server processor operative with the server program to;

display customizable spreadsheet application information at each of the workstations;

transmit market data to each of the plurality of workstations; and

receive trading commands from each of the workstations at pre-determined intervals based on trading model information input at the workstations or input at the server and the market data.

14. An improvement in a customizable spreadsheet application, the improvement for interfacing between the customizable spreadsheet application and an electronic trading system or market data source, the improvement comprising:

an application programming interface formed using a Software Development Kit associated with the customizable spreadsheet application, the application programming interface that functions in-process with the customizable spreadsheet application to link the spreadsheet application to the electronic trading system or market data source.

15. The improvement of claim 14, further comprising a spreadsheet application user interface associated with the spreadsheet application that invokes a spreadsheet function which is provided by the application programming interface.

16. The improvement of claim 14, the spreadsheet functions including at least one of the following functions:

1)receive data from the electronic trading system or other market data source,

     2) queue data for transmission to the electronic trading system and

     3) transmit data to the electronic trading system.