POP Latency Leveling for Fair Electronic Order Routing

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Solution Overview

Problem

High-frequency trading participants exploit latency advantages in electronic trading platforms to execute trades before others, leading to unfair arbitrage opportunities.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a Point-of-Presence (POP) infrastructure that introduces controlled transmission latency to equalize data transmission times across all participants, reducing the advantage of co-location and proprietary data feeds.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If participants use co-location and proprietary data feeds to reduce transmission latency, then trading speed and responsiveness are improved, but unfair arbitrage opportunities arise and market fairness deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata transmission speedVSAvoidlatency arbitrage
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a Point of Presence (POP) infrastructure as an intermediary component between trading participants and the exchange matching engine. This POP layer acts as a mediator that receives orders from participants and forwards them to the exchange, thereby equalizing the transmission path and latency for all participants regardless of their physical proximity to the exchange infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements equipotentiality by designing the POP infrastructure to provide equal transmission conditions for all market participants. By routing all orders through standardized POP points with controlled transmission paths, the system ensures that no participant has a latency advantage based on physical location or proprietary infrastructure, creating an equipotential playing field for order transmission.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #12Equipotentiality

2Productivity

If transmission latency is reduced for faster trading execution, then trading efficiency and productivity are improved, but the advantage of high-frequency trading participants increases, creating unfair market conditions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetrading execution efficiencyVSAvoidmarket fairness
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The POP infrastructure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as an order reception point, a transmission latency equalizer, a routing gateway, and a fairness enforcement mechanism. This multi-functional design allows the system to maintain high trading efficiency while ensuring fair conditions for all participants, including retail investors, without requiring separate infrastructure for different participant types.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Loss of time

If participants locate trading systems closer to exchange infrastructure, then data transmission time is reduced, but infrastructure complexity and cost of co-location increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata transmission timeVSAvoidco-location infrastructure
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of timeVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the order reception and initial processing function from the central exchange infrastructure and places it at distributed POP points. This extraction allows participants to submit orders through nearby POP points without needing to physically co-locate with the exchange's matching engine, thereby reducing transmission time while avoiding the complexity and cost of full co-location infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP3726451B1Transmission latency leveling apparatuses, methods and systems
Publication Date: 2025.12.24 IEX GROUP INC
  • EP3726451B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP3726451B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP3726451B1 patent drawingFigure 1C

AI summary

The TRANSMISSION LATENCY LEVELING APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS ("TLL") provides an electronic bidding order management infrastructure, such as a "point-of-presence," which receives and route electronic trading orders from different trading entities at a server via a transmission medium to create a certain amount of transmission latency before the trading orders could arrive at and be executed at electronic exchanges to reduce latency arbitrage and/or order book arbitrage that may be experienced by high frequency trading participants.