We are now within few micro-seconds of the speed of light, we continue to strive to reach the limits of the physics.

In our first two papers discussing the  “Race to Zero” we discussed the advantages of using microwave radio technology in long-haul High Frequency Trading networks and millimeter wave radio technology in Metro High Frequency Trading Networks netwrorks “Race to Zero Metro”.  This paper will discuss the various RF technologies currently in use when architecting a wireless high frequency trading network and their associated advantages and disadvantages.

Introduction:  Ultra Low latency High Frequency Trading networks are achieved by the proper combination of RF technology selection and path planning.  Wireless technologies are emerging as an improved latency solution to fiber optic because of the benefit of the transmission occurring at approximately the speed of light¹ whereas fiber optic or any other wired solution has a media loss penalty of ~33%.  NeXXCom Wireless, as the subject matter expert and thought leader in this application will demonstrate the trade offs and risks with wireless which include availability, reliability, bandwidth, device latency injection, network handoff, and serialization that are necessary to ensure that the benefit of wireless in a low latency network can be optimized.

Wireless is not new, what is new is the development of the digital signal processing necessary to achieve ultra low latency.

With the upswing of financial firms, particularly in the high frequency trading (HFT) application, exploring wireless as a means to enhance their competitiveness, radio manufacturers have entered into the low latency arena; too often their offerings are not clearly represented and this paper will identify hidden latency risks and performance risks. We will attempt to demonstrate how best to architect a low latency wireless network as a turnkey solution.

Wireless 101:  Wireless is not new, what is new is the development of the digital signal processing necessary to achieve ultra low latency suitable for use in high frequency trading.  Microwave communications has been available since before WWII and has been used in all manner of communication systems for over 60 years.  In the market today, most all wireless systems use spectrum from 5GHz up to 90GHz for point to point (PTP) communications. As a rule of thumb, the lower the frequency, the longer PTP distance can be achieved. There are several bands within this spectra that can be licensed so that the PTP connection is protected from interference from other users; there are also many unlicensed bands which are good for low cost, quick deployments but should be avoided for any mission critical communications.

To mitigate costs and time to market, most wireless solutions use commercial off the shelf (COTS) chipsets to emulate the line side of the radio, or the handoff of one radio to another radio or network appliance such as a switch or router.  These chipsets are an effective means of creating a common market radio and deliver a line side interface that operates at OSI Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) and is sensitive to packet size since the entire packet must be processed before routing to it’s destination. Some newer radios add OSI Layer 3 (Network Layer) elements, which adds additional overhead but permits the radio to be a more sophisticated network element.  None of the above are suitable for use in high frequency trading environments.

In order to use wireless effectively in a latency sensitive network, the following considerations are essential:

• The radio must be a true OSI Layer 1 (Physical Layer) device.   To implement this, a non-chipset solution is necessary, which can be done with an FPGA or other custom programmable chip.  This custom implementation will organize modulation, error coding and general signal management².  Non-Layer 1 radios will have more latency per device as an absolute and will have varying latency with packet size (See Table 1).
• The radio must be standards based (essentially a proprietary PHY, but indistinguishable from an 802.3 PHY at the MAC level) to the Internet Protocol (IP) to optimize the network appliance interface and mitigate serialization and/or add data grooming penalties.
• The radio must employ licensed spectrum below 20GHz to allow longer PTP link distances for Long Haul HFT (LH-HFT). This will minimize the number of insertions of radios to the overall network, which will allow the radio network to take full advantage of its speed of light transmission.  For Metro-HFT networks the radio must use 70-90GHz to mitigate serialization/media converter delays.

Table 1 – OSI Layer 2 Latency injection by Frame
Size and Payload through the radio

Network Considerations:  A latency sensitive wireless network will only be successful if the latency of the network carries though to the end user application.  In this paper we also focus on the HFT application in two forms, Long Haul High Frequency Trading Networks (LH-HFT) where datacenters in two remote cities are connected and Metro High Frequency Trading Networks (Metro-HFT) where datacenters within a metropolitan area are connected.   Each of these network models has unique considerations and successful architectures via radio will need to use a separate set of tools and will be discussed later in this paper.

In either case, there are three (3) fundamental areas for latency to be added to the application:

1. PATH Latency – NeXXCom defines the PATH as the sum of the RF trajectory of all of the discrete links between the two end points of the Network
2. Port Latency – This is latency related to port transitions, serialization, encapsulation, media conversion and OSI Layer 2 transitions.
3. Network Latency – This is the total latency of the wireless network, which includes PATH latency plus all the transmission equipment necessary to construct the wireless network.

Figure 1: Basic HFT Network Architecture

To fully understand the essentials of the total latency in the application, you must look at the sum of all three latency components. To reiterate, the overall architecture of LH-HFT and Metro-HFT is similar, however there are some real differentiators that need to be addressed.   Let’s examine each element, the contributing factors to latency and how NeXXCom approaches how we minimize the overall application latency.

PATH Latency should be, in all cases the largest contributor to latency in the overall application (the only way it would not be would be the result of a mismatch in radio technology (i.e. Layer 2 or Layer 3 radio with 100’s of mS level delays).  In LH-HFT networks the PATH factor will be measured in several milliseconds (mS) and in Metro-HFT in microseconds (µS).  The PATH Latency’s most significant contributing factor is design competence.  PATH Latency is most pronounced in LH-HFT where hundreds of PATH miles are in play and because every 10 miles costs approximately 108µS in round trip delay this can make a significant difference.  Port Latency is highly dependent upon the employed radio technology. In order to minimize Port Latency a true OSI Layer 1 radio should be employed to avoid encapsulation and bit stuffing penalties incurred when transitioning from  Layer 2/3 or non-Native Ethernet RF architectures.  All of these latency components sum up to the overall Network latency (PATH, Radio Hardware, Radio Serialization, Encapsulation, etc.).   The Network Latency, which is the only value that matters must take into account all matters of latency contribution as well as the engineering trade-offs, which include latency, bandwidth, availability, reliability and application interface.  Remember if the Network is not working at all, latency by definition, will be infinite.

On the market today are several radio types including NeXXCom’s OSI Layer 1 Fast Ethernet/ GigE systems, OC-3 systems that are Layer 1 “like” and Hybrid OSI Layer 1/2 systems.  As it pertains to the PATH Latency, the central element here is the radio constellation or modulation scheme.  There are some basic facts, again, this is not new science and these facts are well known.  All these radio systems have 28 or 30MHz channels to work with, all have the same power restrictions so constellation and error coding play a big factor into the link margin, which directly correlates to how available the link will be at a given link distance.  The longer the link distance, the fewer links needed to make the Network and therefore the straighter line PATH can follow.  NeXXCom can achieve its OSI Layer1 Fast Ethernet (100Mb/s) at 32QAM, whereas to achieve 135 or 155Mb/s data payloads 64QAM or 128QAM would be required.  With these higher modulation rates approximately 6dB of link margin is compromised, causing a negative distance impact to approximately 90% of the link distance of the 32QAM solution.   Since a typical LH-HFT microwave radio link will have between 13-22µS one way insertion delay, this 10% penalty will be severe and either cause 100’s of microseconds of delay via longer PATH and more radios or induce a system tradeoff to get latency back by sacrificing availability.

We see a 2.7dB disadvantage applied to 128QAM running 135 Mb/s, even with FEC (It would be 3dB worse if no FEC is used).  Assuming antenna and power output are the same, this means that the link distance would be 36% longer for equivalent BER (if no FEC, it would be 5.7 dB worse and the distance would be 92%).  The increased number of hops means increased latency both in PATH and radio equipment to build the Network.

Further to this point is that at the higher data rates the use of IF Repeaters, a device with extremely low hardware latency (typically about 200nS), can not be used as frequently at the higher bandwidth for the same basic reasons.   This creates yet another material impact on latency in tradeoff for more bandwidth at the OC-3 or any non-standard payload above Fast Ethernet.

In Metro-HFT the issue of constellation/modulation is not a much of a factor provided millimeter wave at Gigabit Ethernet is used.  At millimeter wave, the physics of RF propagation/absorption are such that each link will only achieve short distances (2-4miles).   If microwave is used in the Metro-HFT application, the serialization added in the Port Latency (~130µS) is enough to make a wireless solution unattractive compared to fiber optics where the savings is typically measured in 100µS to 300µS latency improvements.  In a NeXXCom Metro-HFT solution a millimeter wave radio solution is used with a blend of modulation and error coding technologies at OSI Layer 1 Gigabit Ethernet.  This unique blend of capabilities allows radios with per device latencies ranging from 10nS to 4.5µS per device; this combination is typically 50% of the latency of the best incumbent fiber solution.  NeXXCom’s Metro-HFT radio suite has a fiber optic handoff so there is no media conversion latency, no serialization to a Gigabit Ethernet switch port and no encapsulation delay since the handoff is Layer 1 raw Ethernet data and not packet over SONET, which any OC-X microwave solution would have to accommodate.

The issue of serialization will apply in any LH-HFT due to the microwave technologies used, which, at best, will be no more that 100-150Mb/s.  With the devices that are off the Fast Ethernet standard, there exist factual issues that create latency penalties.  These issues include:

• Encapsulation of Ethernet over SONET (Synchronous Optical Network).  In this case the OC-X needs to be mapped into an IP environment.  This makes the device non-Layer 1 and this process injects a latency penalty of ~10%
• Layer 2 transitions.  In this case, a radio that is a Layer 2 modified radio (a proprietary framing interface is exposed at the point between Line and baseband framing) is used for the bulk of the transmission network. However, just before the Port Latency point, a Layer 2 device must be used to terminate into the customers Datacenter.  Please refer again to Table #1 and you will be immediately reminded of the variable latency caused at Layer 2.  In this case the Network cannot provide a constant latency to the application and latency will be a function of packet size and include the other penalties addressed above.
• 2+0 Protection schemes to take 135Mb/s and create 270Mb/s.  This will work and will provide more bandwidth however, when two radios are on the same antenna, which is the case in a 2+0 scheme, isolation, noise and other factors that magnify the availability vs. link distance concerns come into consideration.  There will be more bandwidth but either system availability or latency will be the price.

We maintain that the conclusion is evident.  In order to avoid unplanned latency and achieve the lowest latency system it is essential to stay on IP standards to avoid Port Latency and maximize the modulation benefits for link performance in the LH-HFT.  The other way of looking at these tradeoffs is that if all the links in a Network are of equal length and PATH of constant design and NeXXCom’s solution is along side any others, there will be many more occasions where the other system is simply not in operation, or at infinite latency.

Footnotes:

1. The speed of light in vacuum, denoted by the engineering figure of “c”, is 299,792,458 meters per second, or in standard units 186,282 miles per second.  The speed that light propagates through transparent materials, such as glass or air, is less than c. The ratio between c and the speed at which light travels in a material “v” is called the refractive index “n” of the material (n = c / v). The refractive index of glass is typically around 1.5, meaning that light in glass travels at c / 1.5 ≈ 200,000,000 m/s; the refractive index of air for visible light is about 1.0003, so the speed of light in air is only about 90,000 m/s slower than c, or 299,702,458 m/s.

2. NeXXCom Wireless, LLC. has several Patents Pending on the ways and means of implementing ultra low latency radio and radio networks.  The high level concepts are being presented in this paper.

For more information or advice on architecting your Wireless High Frequency Network contact us at:

NeXXCom Wireless  10455 Pacific Center Ct., San Diego, CA 92121  Ph: 619-870-0199

info@nexxcomwireless.com  www.nexxcomwireless.com

From: hftreview.com

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:27:03 GMT – NeXXCom Wireless

Solutions Approaching the Speed of Light

SAN DIEGO, CA, Mar 13, 2012 — NeXXCom Wireless, a broadband wireless equipment and systems business with technology leadership in system latency and expertise in building ultra broadband networks where latency performance is critical, announces today that the company is delivering the lowest latency, multi-Gigabit Ethernet wireless links for metropolitan connections. These connections will specifically target High Frequency Trading firms.

“Our clients require data center access solutions that near the speed of light; these requirements have been the driving force behind our creation of these wireless links,” states Sal S. Benti, Chairman of NeXXCom Wireless. “As a result, today we can provide point-to-point wireless access between key trading firms and financial data centers at latencies that are superior to traditional optical fiber solutions.”

The following chart illustrates NeXXCom’s fast links to preferred New Jersey and London data centers, where many of the high frequency financial trading community congregates:

—————————————————————————-
PATH LATENCY* SPEED of LIGHT**
—————————————————————————-
Carteret, NJ-Secaucus, NJ < 220uS 174uS
—————————————————————————-
Carteret, NJ-Weehawkin, NJ < 225uS 181uS
—————————————————————————-
Carteret, NJ-Halsey St., Newark,NJ < 155uS 119uS
—————————————————————————-
Weehawkin, NJ-HalseySt., Newark,NJ < 110uS 85uS
—————————————————————————-
Secaucus, NJ-Halsey St., Newark, NJ < 95uS 64uS
—————————————————————————-
Slough, UK-London, UK < 355uS 260uS
—————————————————————————-
Basildon, UK-London, UK < 375uS 272uS
—————————————————————————-

* Actual designed network ** Speed of light as the crow flies

NeXXCom Wireless works with its clients to build networks in a turnkey fashion. Once a client supplies the end points, the NeXXCom team engineers the network, gains client approval, acquires the spectra license, negotiates roof rights and tower assets, supervises civil works, installs and aligns radios and delivers a working link to the client at agreed specifications.

With over a million miles of installed networks worldwide, NeXXCom Wireless is dedicated to meeting its clients’ requirements with the highest quality of service. In addition to metro high frequency trading networks, NeXXCom is actively implementing long-haul, microwave, low latency trading networks to its clients between major trading centers worldwide at latency improvements averaging 30% faster than optical fiber links.

To view NeXXCom Wireless’ technical paper, click here. For more information, visit www.nexxcomwireless.com .

About NeXXCom Wireless NeXXCom Wireless is a full service wireless product and system supplier with high-capacity packet microwave and millimeter wave solutions that drive next-generation IP networks. NeXXCom offers three product lines that offer a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectra, Point-to-Point (PTP) and Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP) configurations and self managed mesh networks with payloads to 1,000Mb/s. Our carrier-grade point-to-point packet microwave systems transmit broadband voice, video and data, enabling service providers, government agencies, enterprises and other organizations to meet their increasing bandwidth requirements competitively. In addition to wireless backhaul, NeXXCom also provides solutions for leased line replacement, last mile fiber extensions and enterprise networks for commercial and government entities.

NeXXCom’s subsidiary, Layer 1 Wireless LLC designs, deploys and manages latency-sensitive networks focused on high frequency financial trading applications globally. For more information, please visit www.nexxcomwireless.com .

        Contact:
        NeXXCom Wireless LLC
        619-870-0199 ext. 100
       media@nexxcomwireless.com

Solutions Approaching the Speed of Light

SAN DIEGO CA, March 13, 2012 – NeXXCom Wireless, a broadband wireless equipment and systems business with technology leadership in system latency and expertise in building ultra broadband networks where latency performance is critical, announces today that the company is delivering the lowest latency, multi-Gigabit Ethernet wireless links for metropolitan connections. These connections will specifically target High Frequency Trading firms.

“Our clients require data center access solutions that near the speed of light; these requirements have been the driving force behind our creation of these wireless links,” states Sal S. Benti, Chairman of NeXXCom Wireless. “As a result, today we can provide point-to-point wireless access between key trading firms and financial data centers at latencies that are superior to traditional optical fiber solutions.”

The following chart illustrates NeXXCom’s fast links to preferred New Jersey and London data centers, where many of the high frequency financial trading community congregates:

• Actual designed network

**  Speed of light as the crow flies

NeXXCom Wireless works with its clients to build networks in a turnkey fashion.  Once a client supplies the end points, the NeXXCom team engineers the network, gains client approval, acquires the spectra license, negotiates roof rights and tower assets, supervises civil works, installs and aligns radios and delivers a working link to the client at agreed specifications.

With over a million miles of installed networks worldwide, NeXXCom Wireless is dedicated to meeting its clients’ requirements with the highest quality of service. In addition to metro high frequency trading networks, NeXXCom is actively implementing long-haul, microwave, low latency trading networks to its clients between major trading centers worldwide at latency improvements averaging 30% faster than optical fiber links.

To view NeXXCom Wireless’ technical paper, click here. For more information, visit www.nexxcomwireless.com.

# # #

About NeXXCom Wireless

NeXXCom Wireless is a full service wireless product and system supplier with high-capacity packet microwave and millimeter wave solutions that drive next-generation IP networks.  NeXXCom offers three product lines that offer a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectra, Point-to-Point (PTP) and Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP) configurations and self managed mesh networks with payloads to 1,000Mb/s.  Our carrier-grade point-to-point packet microwave systems transmit broadband voice, video and data, enabling service providers, government agencies, enterprises and other organizations to meet their increasing bandwidth requirements competitively.  In addition to wireless backhaul, NeXXCom also provides solutions for leased line replacement, last mile fiber extensions and enterprise networks for commercial and government entities.

NeXXCom’s subsidiary, Layer 1 Wireless LLC designs, deploys and manages latency-sensitive networks focused on high frequency financial trading applications globally.  For more information, please visit www.nexxcomwireless.com.

Contact:

NeXXCom Wireless LLC
619-870-0199 ext. 100

media@nexxcomwireless.com

We are now within few micro-seconds of the speed of light, we continue to strive to reach the limits of the physics.

In our initial “Race to Zero” paper published in January, 2012 paper published in January, 2012 we described how using wireless microwave communications paths implemented by NeXXCom Wireless provide the capability to connect datacenters between major trading corridors such as NJ-Chicago or London-Frankfurt to name just two, can dramatically reduce roundtrip latency.  As these networks are now in the implementation phase the financial trading firms that are deploying them will see latencies reduced by 30% and more over existing optical fiber paths between the same datacenters.

NeXXCom Wireless’ management team has pioneered the use of ultra low latency wireless networks to augment existing fiber optic networks for the critical trades requiring absolute speed and we continue to introduce low latency wireless technologies to reduce network latency.  A central focus for us at NeXXCom Wireless is constantly developing wireless communications radios at reduced latency while maintaining the integrity of the wireless signal and the data it carries.  Today we introduce our latest offering, Metro Wireless Ultra Low Latency Networks to connect datacenters at latency reductions approaching 50% over similar fiber optic paths.

NeXXCom Wireless’ SkyMax™  OSI Layer 1 millimeter wave radios can provide multi-Gigabit links between datacenters within microseconds of the speed of light.

As always, the purpose of our position papers is not to compare wireless to fiber as competitive communications technologies. Our purpose is to illustrate the complimentary nature of the two transmission mediums.

On fiber networks financial trade data is transmitted typically at 10Gb/s.  Using our  SkyMax™ radios, data can be transmitted at up to 2Gb/s, less bandwidth for sure however, up to 50% faster measured in round trip latency.  At that level of latency improvement it is not difficult to devise a trading strategy that parses the critical trades that require the lowest latency to maximize trade profits.

Today, NeXXCom Wireless is implementing Metro HFT networks successfully in NY/NJ, Chicago, London and Frankfurt among other financial centers globally and we are connecting these networks together using our best in class Layer 1  SkyData™ radios for long haul connections such as NJ-CHI and LON-FRA.

Radio / Modem Technology: At NeXXCom Wireless we are OSI Layer 1 evangelists and we love “Unmolested Bits ©”.  Our wireless HFT networks are a pseudo wire in the sky and behave exactly like fiber or wires.

Key to this outstanding performance is our patented Layer 1 architecture.  At Layer 1 we do not add any framing or routing information to the data that is received from the trade execution platform.  We call this passing “Unmolested Bits ©”.  Especially in a point-to point, wireless high frequency trading network, having the radios add switching and routing information is a waste of resource and serves only to inject unnecessary latency into the data stream.  By not molesting the bits we receive the data frames and send them across the network at the speed of light with minimal latency injection by the radios along the path.

Our SkyMax™ ultra low latency radio can carry data from 1Gb/s to 2Gb/s with an end-to-end latency of less than 5 micro seconds through the radio as opposed to Layer 2 and 3 radios that achieve latencies in the hundreds of microseconds.  With our technology we achieve latencies that presently are within less than 100 microseconds of the speed of light through air.

Table 2 on the left are typical examples of latencies achieved in our Metro Wireless High Frequency Trading Networks. Actual latency achieved is subject to the design and selection of a Most Efficient Path and desired network availability, a capability of NeXXCom Wireless as a turnkey provider of wireless network solutions.

Of course being fast is not good enough; our radio also incorporates proprietary error correction to ensure carrier class performance and data integrity.  Our metro designs guarantee 99.99% availability on a link basis and a 10-6 Bit Error Rate; this means the trades you execute are assured.

Path design & Spectra – Most Efficient Path (MEP): Because it’s wireless there are inherent hurdles to the Most Efficient Path.  Terrain, metro areas, tower availability, spectra availability and coordination may be limited making a MEP difficult to engineer and implement.  NeXXCom’s engineering design group has planned and installed wireless networks all over the globe; in fact we have installed more than 1,000,000 miles of terrestrial networks.

Path design for a “conceptual” straight path can be dangerously and carelessly over simplified.  I constantly read and hear of claims by companies claiming to be experts and can beat fiber.  Faster than fiber isn’t the most important metric; Speed of Light with carrier class performance is the metric that should matter to HFT firms.  We at NeXXCom Wireless understand that and engineer to those stringent parameters.

When we take on the project our team performs:

• Topology Analysis – We determine the best configuration for your network that meets your connectivity, reliability, and redundancy requirements.
• Capacity Planning – We ensure sufficient throughput on each network segment.
• LOS Feasibility – We evaluate LOS (line-of-sight) feasibility for each link based on clearance criteria and antenna height possibilities. We use advanced software tools for rapid LOS analysis based on terrain and building data (where available).
• Band Selection – We determine frequency band options based on path length, antenna size, and reliability objectives considering multipath and rain outage.
• Path Survey – We confirm LOS on planned links with field survey that identifies any potential obstructions (trees, structures, etc.). We document surveyed site coordinates and possible antenna heights for input into detailed design.
• Detailed Path Engineering – We conduct analysis to determine final equipment selection, antenna types and heights, transmission line lengths, and other operating parameters based on desired performance criteria.
• Frequency Engineering – We perform interference analysis to assign appropriate frequencies based on existing RF environment that ensures system will not be degraded by unwanted interference.
• FCC Licensing – We conduct FCC-required Prior Coordination with other wireless users, prepare FCC applications, and submit for electronic filing as necessary.

Additional Long Haul NeXXCom Path Comparisons

About the author:

Sal S. Benti is the founder of NeXXCom Wireless LLC and has been involved with computing and communications networks since 1973 in various senior executive positions for both private and publicly traded technology companies. He can be reached at: sal.benti@nexxcomwireless.com

From: dark-fiber.tmcnet.com

High-frequency traders also are an important focus for NeXXCom Wireless.

Over the last couple of years, the rise of automated financial trading has driven the need for lower and lower network latency – a scenario that has driven fiber network operators in some cases to lay new fiber to shave 50 miles or so off of key routes between financial exchanges in different markets.

But NeXXCom says it has a new way of improving latency that doesn’t involve fiber. Instead, the company covers the same routes using microwave technology which has inherently lower latency, as NeXXCom Wireless Chairman and Founder Sal S. Benti explained in a recent phone call.

Benti compared fiber optics to a fluorescent light. Light doesn’t go through the glass; instead it bounces back and forth between the edges, making fiber optic transmission about 30 percent slower than the speed of light, he said.

In contrast, he said, “wireless doesn’t bounce off anything; it’s point to point.” And although raindrops and dirt sometimes get in the way, microwave transport is only about 10 percent slower than the speed of light, Benti said.

What that means is that even though NeXXCom’s microwave technology needs 35 to 40 hops between the critical New York/New Jersey and Chicago markets, it’s still faster than fiber, Benti said. The company claims to cut more than 3 milliseconds from the fastest fiber networks on that route.

The main drawback to microwave is that it’s prone to blockages from torrential rainfall or heavy snow. But Benti said financial industry clients can address that by creating a microwave or fiber backup route. He said he gives financial industry clients a “four-nines” service level agreement, which promises that the network will be available 99.99 percent of the time.

NeXXCom designed its own microwave equipment, which provides line-of-sight coverage of 18 miles at 100 Mbps. Leveraging relationships with tower operators, the company builds turnkey networks for financial clients and, if desired, will manage those networks for the client through its managed service provider unit, Layer 1 Wireless.

NeXXCom also installs its microwave equipment for other network operators who use it to serve their own clients.

From: www.cable360.net

NeXXCom Wireless is deploying ultra low latency microwave radio technology it says effectively cuts more than 3 milliseconds (mS) from the fastest fiber networks on the major financial trading path between the financial centers of Chicago and New Jersey.

“Today we are below 10mS round trip, which is a significant improvement for high-frequency trading (HFT). With further product improvements, we expect to approach within 1mS of the speed of light,” predicts Sal S. Benti, chairman & founder.

He continues, “There is no way to accurately measure the effect of the speed increase but it has been estimated that each 1mS improvement can be worth $100 million to a financial trading firm. Our client firms are highly secretive about their trading network strategies and given the amount of profits involved, it’s understandable.”

Adds Hunter Newby, CEO of Allied Fiber and founder of the Dark Fiber Community, “Fiber and microwave complement each other in many areas, including HFT and mobile backhaul for LTE and other technologies. For HFT, fiber offers the highest levels of aggregate bit capacity, whereas for ultra-low latency, microwave offers speed advantages with sufficient bandwidth to be most effective for certain HFT applications.”

In a speech in Beijing last year Andrew Haldane, senior policy maker at the Bank of England commented on the extraordinary speeds that financial instrument trades are conducted. “New trade technologies have progressively raised the speed limit for trading. Today, this is measured in microseconds — millionths of a second. Tomorrow, it may be measured in nanoseconds — billionths of a second. There is effectively a ‘race to zero’ among trading technologists, as market advantage lies in being the fastest,” he said.

NeXXCom Wireless has been working with HFT firms, already deploying a low-latency microwave network between Chicago and New Jersey; it now is designing additional networks for trading firms located in the United States and Europe.

More about NeXXCom Wireless: The company’s carrier-grade, point-to-point packet microwave systems transmit broadband voice, video and data, enabling service providers, government agencies, enterprises and other organizations to meet increasing bandwidth requirements. In addition to wireless backhaul, it also provides solutions for leased-line replacement, last-mile fiber extensions, and enterprise networks for commercial and government entities.

From: http://www.highfrequencytraders.com

NeXXCom Wireless is deploying ultra low latency microwave radio technology that effectively cuts more than 3 milliseconds (mS) from the fastest fiber networks on the major financial trading path between the financial centers of Chicago and New Jersey. “Today we are below 10mS round trip which is a significant improvement for High Frequency Trading, with further product improvements we expect to approach within 1mS of the speed of light” says Sal S. Benti, Chairman & Founder of NeXXCom Wireless.

“As NeXXCom Wireless has recently joined the Dark Fiber Community, the industry is now aware of its wireless technology advancements for ultra low latency networks,” states Hunter Newby, CEO of Allied Fiber and Founder of the Dark Fiber Community. “Fiber and microwave compliment each other in many areas including HFT and mobile backhaul for LTE and other technologies. For HFT, fiber offers the highest levels of aggregate bit capacity whereas for ultra low latency microwave offers speed advantages with sufficient bandwidth to be most effective for certain HFT applications. I suspect that as trading firms learn more about NeXXCom Wireless’ technology they will begin proliferating these ultra low latency networks around the globe in the not distant future to gain competitive advantage.”

NeXXCom Wireless is very active with HFT firms and the management team has already successfully deployed a low latency microwave network well below the fastest fiber-based transmission available today between Chicago and New Jersey locations and is designing additional networks for trading firms located in the US and Europe. Benti adds, “There is no way to accurately measure the effect of the speed increase but it has been estimated that each 1mS improvement can be worth $100 million to a financial trading firm. Our client firms are highly secretive about their trading network strategies and given the amount of profits involved, it’s understandable.”

In a speech in Beijing last year Andrew Haldane, senior policy maker at the Bank of England commented on the extraordinary speeds that financial instrument trades are conducted. “New trade technologies have progressively raised the speed limit for trading. Today, this is measured in microseconds – millionths of a second. Tomorrow, it may be measured in nanoseconds – billionths of a second. There is effectively a ‘race to zero’ among trading technologists, as market advantage lies in being the fastest,” he said.

From: securitiestechnologymonitor.com
By: Laton McCartney

San Diego, CA-based Nexxcom Wireless is claiming it can provide low latency microwave networks between New York and Chicago with roundtrip latency of under 10 milliseconds.

“That’s 3.3 milliseconds faster than the 13.33 milliseconds provided by the Spread Networks fiber facility,” says Sal. S. Benti, chairman and founder of Nexxcom.

Spread Networks, based in Ridgeland, Miss., declined to comment for this story.

Nexxcom has yet to achieve the promised speed, however.

Right now, the company is setting up a microwave network between Chicago and Newark, N.J., that’s being tested by an undisclosed high-speed trading firm.

Round trip speed on this network clocks in at 12 millieseconds, Nexxcom says.

But that time can be beat.

“We are in negotiations with several major trading firms to build networks with roundtrip latency of 10.0 milliseconds,” Benti says.

For all the improvements in high-speed trading such as fast switching, algorithms, and co-location centers, Benti believes the real bang for the buck lies in the transport of messages between two data centers.

He claims that a properly constructed 6 gigahertz wireless network between the same facilities offers a 100 million bit a second duplex circuit with a round trip that could be as low as 9 thousandths of a second, or milliseconds.

Estimates that every millisecond reduced from transmission speeds can be worth up to $100 million to trading firms give impetus to creating new, faster wired and wireless connections.

Benti won’t reveal the identity of potential clients. “Our clients firms are highly secretive about their trading network strategies and given the amount of profits involved, it’s understandable,” he explains.

Benti says that “fiber and microwave complement each other in many areas including high-frequency trading and mobile backhaul for traffic moving under a new generation of Long Term Evolution wireless communications and other technologies.

He argues though that “low latency microwave offers speed advantages with sufficient bandwidth to be most effective for certain HFT applications.”

WIRELESS SOLUTIONS PROVIDER NEXXCOM WIRELESS CLAIMS MAJOR SPEED ADVANTAGE

In The Race To Zero Latency In High Frequency Trading

San Diego, CA – January 31, 2012. NeXXCom Wireless is deploying ultra low latency microwave radio technology that effectively cuts more than 3 milliseconds (mS) from the fastest fiber networks on the major financial trading path between the financial centers of Chicago and New Jersey. “Today we are below 10mS round trip which is a significant improvement for High Frequency Trading, with further product improvements we expect to approach within 1mS of the speed of light” says Sal S. Benti, Chairman & Founder of NeXXCom Wireless.

“As NeXXCom Wireless has recently joined the Dark Fiber Community, the industry is now aware of its wireless technology advancements for ultra low latency networks,” states Hunter Newby, CEO of Allied Fiber and Founder of the Dark Fiber Community. “Fiber and microwave compliment each other in many areas including HFT and mobile backhaul for LTE and other technologies. For HFT, fiber offers the highest levels of aggregate bit capacity whereas for ultra low latency microwave offers speed advantages with sufficient bandwidth to be most effective for certain HFT applications. I suspect that as trading firms learn more about NeXXCom Wireless’ technology they will begin proliferating these ultra low latency networks around the globe in the not distant future to gain competitive advantage.”

NeXXCom Wireless is very active with HFT firms and the management team has already successfully deployed a low latency microwave network well below the fastest fiber-based transmission available today between Chicago and New Jersey locations and is designing additional networks for trading firms located in the US and Europe. Benti adds, “There is no way to accurately measure the effect of the speed increase but it has been estimated that each 1mS improvement can be worth $100 million to a financial trading firm. Our client firms are highly secretive about their trading network strategies and given the amount of profits involved, it’s understandable.”

In a speech in Beijing last year Andrew Haldane, senior policy maker at the Bank of England commented on the extraordinary speeds that financial instrument trades are conducted. “New trade technologies have progressively raised the speed limit for trading. Today, this is measured in microseconds – millionths of a second. Tomorrow, it may be measured in nanoseconds – billionths of a second. There is effectively a ‘race to zero’ among trading technologists, as market advantage lies in being the fastest,” he said.

About NeXXCom Wireless

NeXXCom Wireless is a full service wireless product and system supplier with high capacity packet microwave and millimeter wave solutions that drive next-generation IP networks. NeXXCom offers three product lines that offer a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectra, Point-to-Point (PTP) and Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP) configurations and self managed mesh networks with payloads to 1,000Mb/s. Our carrier-grade point-to-point packet microwave systems transmit broadband voice, video and data, enabling service providers, government agencies, enterprises and other organizations to meet their increasing bandwidth requirements competitively. In addition to wireless backhaul we also provide solutions for leased line replacement, last mile fiber extensions and enterprise networks for commercial and government entities.

For more information please visit www.nexxcomwireless.com.

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It has been estimated that each millisecond that network latency is reduced can be worth up to $100 million to a financial trading firm.

When I read about High Frequency Trading, most often the subject matter is focused on FPGA’s, algorithms, fast switching, servers, co-location centers and technology improvements that shave microseconds from the latency calculation to execute trades. These improvements are important and necessary but what is the real bang for the buck of these incremental improvements in terms of total latency improvement? At NeXXCom Wireless we believe that more focus should be applied to the transport portion of latency between two data centers. We believe that multiple milliseconds (mS) can be eliminated from the end-to-end latency calculation. Let’s use 165 Halsey St. Newark, NJ to 350 E. Cermak Road, Chicago, Il as an example.
Today the round trip latency for trades made between those two data centers is 13.33mS through the Spread Networks fiber facility. By comparison, a properly constructed 6GHz wireless network between the same facilities offers a 100 Mb/s duplex circuit with a round trip latency calculation of less than 10.0mS or 3.3mS faster. If the premise of increased trading profits of $100 million per year is true than that 3.3mS latency improvement is quite valuable.

Upcoming latency improvements in NeXXCom’s SkyData™ Layer 1 technology will enable wireless networks within 1.0mS of the Speed of Light.

The purpose of this position paper is not to compare wireless to fiber, that is an apples and oranges argument. Fiber offers the advantages of much higher bandwidth availability at 1Gb and higher. Wireless does offer lower latency potential however. At 100Mb/s, the available bandwidth is more than adequate for a firm’s most strategic trades and or faster market data availability.
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that in the race to zero latency in high frequency trading, wireless and more specifically NeXXCom’s Layer 1 system architecture offers the best opportunity to approach the speed of light in the transport part of the network.

In a wireless ultra low latency network there are three main components that contribute to lowest latency:

1. Superior Radio / Modem Technology
2. The Most Efficient Path Design
3. Spectra

Radio / Modem Technology: After much testing and successfully implementing a Our next release of this radio technology will further reduce the radio latency to Key to this outstanding performance is our patented Layer 1 architecture. At Layer 1 we do not add any framing or routing information to the data that is received from the Fast Ethernet Switch. We call this passing “Unmolested Bits ©”. Especially in a point-to point, wireless high frequency trading network, having the radios add switching and routing information is a waste of resource and serves only to inject unnecessary latency into the data stream. By not molesting the bits we receive the data frames and send them across the network at the speed of light with minimal latency injection by the radios along the path.

Of course being fast is not good enough; the radio also incorporates proprietary error correction to ensure carrier class performance and data integrity. Our designs guarantee 99.999% availability on a link basis and a 10-6 Bit Error Rate; this means the trades you execute are assured.

Path design & Spectra – Most Efficient Path (MEP): Because it’s wireless there are inherent hurdles to the Most Efficient Path. Terrain, metro areas, tower availability, spectra availability and coordination may be limited making a MEP difficult to engineer and implement. NeXXCom’s engineering design group has planned and installed wireless networks all over the globe; in fact we have installed more than 1,000,000 miles of terrestrial networks.
Path design for a “conceptual” straight path can be dangerously and carelessly over simplified. I constantly read and hear of claims by companies claiming to be experts and can beat fiber. Faster than fiber isn’t the most important metric; Speed of Light with carrier class performance is the metric that should matter to HFT firms. We at NeXXCom Wireless understand that and engineer to those stringent parameters.
When we take on the project our team performs:

When we take on the project our team performs:

• Topology Analysis - We determine the best configuration for your network that meets your connectivity, reliability, and redundancy requirements.
• Capacity Planning - We ensure sufficient throughput on each network segment.
• LOS Feasibility - We evaluate LOS (line-of-sight) feasibility for each link based on clearance criteria and antenna height possibilities. We use advanced software tools for rapid LOS analysis based on terrain and building data (where available).
• Band Selection - We determine frequency band options based on path length, antenna size, and reliability objectives considering multipath and rain outage.
• Path Survey - We confirm LOS on planned links with field survey that identifies any potential obstructions (trees, structures, etc.). We document surveyed site coordinates and possible antenna heights for input into detailed design.
• Detailed Path Engineering - We conduct analysis to determine final equipment selection, antenna types and heights, transmission line lengths, and other operating parameters based on desired performance criteria.
• Frequency Engineering - We perform interference analysis to assign appropriate frequencies based on existing RF environment that ensures system will not be degraded by unwanted interference.
• FCC Licensing - We conduct FCC-required Prior Coordination with other wireless users, prepare FCC applications, and submit for electronic filing as necessary.

About the author:

Sal S. Benti is the founder of NeXXCom Wireless LLC and has been involved with computing and communications networks since 1973 in various senior executive positions for both private and publicly traded technology companies.

He can be reached at: sal.benti@nexxcomwireless.com