System and method for improved distribution of market information

• US 7,584,141 B1
• Filed: 05/02/2006
• Issued: 09/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
• Inventors: Andrews, Ryan N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kazimi; Hani
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shrestha; Bijendra K
• Application Number:
  US11/415,845
• Time in Patent Office: 1,218 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/00 Network traffic management; Network resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/00 Local resource management

Abstract

A data distribution system and method are described herein to improve the distribution of market information to subscribing client devices. Market information updates are provided to subscribing devices over a communication link every time a change in the market occurs. If a bandwidth limitation is reached on the communication link, the preferred embodiments switch to a second mode of transmission such that the market information updates are provided only at predetermined intervals. The preferred embodiment monitors the bandwidth consumption to determine what mode of transmission to apply, and in response, it can dynamically change between modes of transmission. By dynamically adjusting the mode of transmission to comport with the current network bandwidth, the preferred embodiments may provide a network friendly, data intensive, and fast response market information feed.

Claims

1. A method for maximizing the distribution of market information in an electronic trading environment, the method comprising:

determining a first bandwidth usage of available bandwidth for a communication link for distributing market information from an electronic market via a computing device;

dynamically selecting, via the computing device, a first mode of transmission for distributing the market information from the electronic market to comport with the first bandwidth usage of the available bandwidth for the communication link, wherein the first mode of transmission distributes the market information including a periodically transmitted new market information snapshot identifying at least;

a best bid order and a best ask order for the tradeable object, the best bid order including a highest bid price for the tradeable object when the new market information snapshot is transmitted and the best ask order including a lowest ask price for the tradeable object when the new market information snapshot is transmitted;

a predetermined number of bid orders available for the tradeable object when the new market information snapshot is transmitted, the predetermined number of bid orders not exceeding a maximum number of bid orders, a price for each bid order each being consecutively less than the price for the best bid order; and

a predetermined number of ask orders available for the tradeable object when the new market information snapshot is transmitted, the predetermined number of ask orders not exceeding a maximum number of ask orders, a price for each ask order each being consecutively greater than the price for the best ask order;

determining a change in available bandwidth of the communication link to a second bandwidth usage via the computing device the second bandwidth usage being lower than the first bandwidth usage; and

dynamically switching, via the computing device, from the first mode of transmission to a second mode of transmission for distributing the market information from the electronic market to comport with the second bandwidth usage, the second mode of transmission distributing the market information differently than the first mode of transmission according to;

receiving a first market data update that corresponds to the tradeable object when a change in a market order book is detected at the electronic market via the computing device;

storing the contents of the first market data update in a data structure associated with the computing device;

receiving at least one second market data update that corresponds to the tradeable object when another change in the market order book is detected at the electronic market via the computing device;

updating the data structure with the at least one second market update via the computing device, wherein updating the data structure comprises consolidating market data in the first market data update with market data in the at least one second market data update;

retrieving data stored in the data structure; and

sending a market update message based on a predetermined time interval via the computing device, the market update message comprising the retrieved data from the data structure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the data structure with the at least one second market update comprises:

storing the contents of the at least one second market data update in the data structure in addition to the contents of the first market data update.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein sending the market update message comprises:

sending the market update message comprising the contents of the first market data update and the at least one second market data update.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the market update message comprises:

sending the market update message comprising the content of the most recent of the first market data update and the at least one second market data update.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein

the at least one second market data update is more recent in time than the first market data update.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein

the communication link comprises a network connection from an electronic market information source to a gateway.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein

the communication link comprises a network connection from an electronic market information source to a client device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein

the communication link comprises a network connection from a gateway to a client device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising

manually setting the first bandwidth usage to correspond to the first mode of transmission and manually setting the second bandwidth usage to correspond to the second mode of transmission.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising measuring bandwidth usage electronically to detect the first bandwidth usage and the second bandwidth usage.