System and method for improved distribution of market information

• US 7,624,063 B1
• Filed: 09/30/2003
• Issued: 11/24/2009
• 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): Shrestha; Bijendra K
• Application Number:
  US10/675,449
• Time in Patent Office: 2,247 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 bandwidth limit for a communication link that is used in distributing market information related to a tradeable object from an electronic market via a computing device;

selecting a first mode of transmission from a plurality of modes of transmission for distributing the market information via the computing device, wherein the first mode of transmission comprises sending a new market update message from the electronic market when a change in a market order book is detected;

determining whether the bandwidth limit for the communication link is reached via the computing device; and

in response to determining whether the bandwidth limit for the communication link is reached, dynamically selecting between the first mode of transmission and a second mode of transmission, the second mode of transmission for distributing the market information from a the plurality of modes of transmission via the computing device,

wherein the second mode of transmission comprises sending a new market information snapshot at a predetermined time interval being dynamically adjustable according to bandwidth utilization of the communication link,

wherein the market information snapshot comprises an inside market for the tradeable object including a best bid price and a best ask price currently available for the tradeable object.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a bandwidth over the communication link is below the bandwidth limit; and

dynamically selecting the first mode of transmission.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the communication link comprises a network connection from a market information source to a gateway.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the communication link comprises a network connection from an electronic market information source to a client device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the communication link comprises a network connection from a gateway to a client device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a bandwidth limit for a communication link comprises manually setting a bandwidth limit.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a bandwidth limit for a communication link comprises measuring the bandwidth limit electronically by software.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the mode of transmission is dynamically changed from the first mode to the second mode when the second mode maximizes the distribution of the market information more than the first mode.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the mode of transmission is dynamically changed from the second mode back to the first mode when the first mode maximizes the distribution of the market information more than the second mode.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein aspects of the plurality of modes of transmission may be dynamically adjusted to comport with changing bandwidth limits.