Keyboard trading system

• US 20040117331A1
• Filed: 10/31/2003
• Published: 06/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BGC Partners Incorporated (BGC Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: BGC Partners Incorporated (BGC Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lutnick, Howard W., Sweeting, Michael, Noviello, Joseph, Amaitis, Lee, Johnson, Jim
• Granted Patent: US 8,930,256 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/416
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0219 Special purpose keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0233 Character input methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing customized keyboards for receiving user inputs, and view regions for displaying information for users in useful arrangements. Such keyboards include keys that are pre-programmed to reflect the issues present in each trading pane of the view regions. Using such keys, a user may direct the trading application to quickly and efficiently switch between multiple issues, and place, manipulate or cancel orders on them. The keyboard may also be designed such that multiple keys may be disabled, replaced or mapped to perform different functions.

Claims

1. A system for electronic trading by trading participants, the system comprising:

a keyboard having a plurality of order keys for placing orders on a plurality of financial instruments;

a display device for displaying a view region having a plurality of trading quadrants, each trading quadrant being a portion of the view region that displays trading information relating to one of the plurality of financial instruments; and

a processor coupled to the display device and to the keyboard, the processor being configured to direct the display device to display one of the plurality of trading quadrants in response to the participant pressing one of the plurality of order keys.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is a first processor, the system further comprising a second processor configured to process an order on one of the plurality of financial instruments in response to the participant pressing one of the plurality of order keys.

3. The system of claim 2, the second processor being further configured to execute a trade on the financial instrument on which the order was placed and processed.

4. The system of claim 3, the first processor being further configured to direct the display device to display information relating to the executed trade in one of the plurality of trading quadrants in real-time.

5. The system of claim 3 further comprising a back office clearing center coupled to the second processor for causing the executed trade to be cleared and for verifying that the executed trade is cleared.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the second processor comprises the first processor.

7. The system of claim 1, the keyboard further having a plurality of issue keys, wherein each one of the plurality of issue keys, when pressed, causes the processor to direct the display device to display another trading quadrant that displays information relating to a non-benchmark issue.

8. The system of claim 7, the processor being further configured to allow the participant to place an order on the non-benchmark issue using at least one of the plurality of order keys.

9. The system of claim 1, the keyboard further having a plurality of specific keys, wherein each one of the plurality of specific keys is used to select a type of issue related to the plurality of financial instruments, and wherein each one of the plurality of specific keys, when pressed, allows the participant to place an order on the type of issue related to a specific one of the plurality of financial instruments using an order key that is associated with the specific one of the plurality of financial instruments.

10. The system of claim 1, the keyboard further having a plurality of specific keys, wherein each one of the plurality of specific keys is associated with a trading quadrant relating to a specific financial instrument and issues related to the specific financial instrument, and wherein each one of the plurality of specific keys, when pressed, allows the participant to place an order on the specific financial instrument and the issues related to the specific financial instrument using the plurality of order keys.

11. The system of claim 10, the plurality of trading quadrants being spatially aligned in the view region to correspond to a spatial alignment, on the keyboard, of the plurality of specific keys associated with the plurality of trading quadrants.

12. A system for electronic trading, the system comprising:

a display device for displaying a view region that comprises at least one trading quadrant showing a benchmark instrument and a plurality of issues related to the benchmark instrument;

a keyboard comprising;

a first plurality of keys, wherein one of the first plurality of keys corresponds to the benchmark instrument; and

a second plurality of keys for placing orders; and

a processor coupled to the display device and to the keyboard, in response to a trader pressing the key that corresponds to the benchmark instrument, the processor being configured to;

direct the display device to select the at least one trading quadrant; and

map the second plurality of keys such that each one of the second plurality of keys is used to place orders on a specific issue displayed in the at least one quadrant.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is a first processor, the system further comprising a second processor configured to process an order on the specific issue in response to the trader pressing one of the second plurality of keys.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the benchmark instrument is a first benchmark instrument, the display device displaying a second trading quadrant in the view region, the second trading quadrant showing a second benchmark instrument and a plurality of issues related to the second benchmark instrument.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein a second one of the first plurality of keys corresponds to the second benchmark instrument, and in response to the trader pressing the second one of the first plurality of keys, the processor being further configured to:

direct the display device to select the second trading quadrant; and

map the second plurality of keys such that each one of the second plurality of keys is used to place orders on a specific issue displayed in the second trading quadrant.

20. The system of claim 12, the keyboard further having a plurality of issue keys, wherein each one of the plurality of issue keys, when pressed, causes the processor to direct the display device to select a non-benchmark issue in an other trading quadrant.

21. The system of claim 20, the processor further configured to map the second plurality of keys such that at least one of the second plurality of keys is used to place orders on a specific non-benchmark issue displayed in the other trading quadrant in response to the trader pressing one of the plurality of issue keys.

22. The system of claim 19, the at least one trading quadrant and the second trading quadrant being spatially aligned in the view region to correspond to a spatial alignment, on the keyboard, of the one and the second one of the first plurality of keys.

14. The system of claim 14, the second processor being further configured to execute a trade on the specific issue based on the processed order.

15. The system of claim 14, the first processor being further configured to direct the display device to display information relating to the executed trade in the at least one trading quadrant in real-time.

16. The system of claim 14 further comprising a back office clearing center coupled to the second processor for causing the executed trade to be cleared and for verifying that the executed trade is cleared.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the second processor comprises the first processor.

23. A keyboard configurable in a first configuration for receiving inputs through a plurality of keys, each of the plurality of keys being associated with a specific function, and a second configuration for receiving inputs through a single key that is substituted for the plurality of keys in order to implement one of the specific functions previously associated with one of the plurality of keys, the single key occupying substantially the same physical space on the keyboard previously occupied by the plurality of keys.

24. The keyboard of claim 23, wherein the first configuration or the second configuration is selected through switching means.

25. The keyboard of claim 24, wherein the switching means comprises a toggle switch.

26. The keyboard of claim 23 further comprising a plurality of enumerated keys, each of the plurality of enumerated keys being associated with a function that is determined based on an order in which a user presses the plurality of enumerated keys.

27. The keyboard of claim 23 being preconfigured to change the specific function associated with at least one of the plurality of keys based on a type of view associated with a view region displayed to a user.

28. The keyboard of claim 27 wherein the type of view is selected from a group consisting of a benchmark view and a specific view.

29. The keyboard of claim 23 being preconfigured to change the specific function associated with at least one of the plurality of keys based on whether a user presses at least another one of the plurality of keys while pressing the at least one of the plurality of keys.