Clearing Message Broker System

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for efficiently permitting the transmission and receipt of trading messages between message sources configured to use a variety of different protocols. Messaging gateways may be configured to reformat messages for proper transmission across a transport mechanism. Routers may be dynamically partitioned so that manual reconfiguration is not required when sources and/or routers are added or deleted. The routers may be configured to route messages based on content to limit the amount of formatting required at message sources.

1 . An exchange computer system comprising:
 a plurality of routers configured to route messages;   a computer readable medium storing the identification of a plurality of message sources that generate messages; and   a partitioning coordinator router programmed with computer-executable instructions to cause the partitioning coordinator router to perform steps comprising
 (a) accessing the identification of the plurality of message sources, 
 (b) dynamically partitioning the plurality of message sources among the plurality of routers to create a first assignment of the plurality of message sources to the plurality of routers, 
 (c) determining to initiate a partitioning of the plurality of message sources among the plurality of routers, and 
 (d) in response to (c), dynamically partitioning the plurality of message sources among the plurality of routers to create a second assignment of the plurality of message sources to the plurality of routers, wherein the second assignment is different from the first assignment. 
   
     
     
         2 . The exchange computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of message sources includes a match engine. 
     
     
         3 . The exchange computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of message sources includes a trade clearing application. 
     
     
         4 . A computer implemented method of configuring a distributed computing system having a plurality of routers configured to route messages, the method comprising:
 (a) storing an identification of a plurality of available message sources that are configured to communicate with one another;   (b) accessing with a partitioning coordinator router the identification of the plurality of available message sources;   (c) dynamically partitioning the plurality of available message sources among a plurality of routers that includes the partitioning coordinator router to create a first assignment of the plurality of available message sources to the plurality of routers;   (d) determining to initiate a partitioning of the plurality of available message sources among the plurality of routers; and   (e) in response to (d), dynamically partitioning the plurality of available message sources among the plurality of routers to create a second assignment of the plurality of available message sources to the plurality of routers, wherein the second assignment is different from the first assignment.   
     
     
         5 . The computer implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein (b) comprises designating the first router detected within the distributed computer system as the partitioning coordinator router. 
     
     
         6 . The computer implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the designation of the partitioning coordinator router is based on a factor of the router selected from the group consisting of: reliability, total bandwidth, available bandwidth, status, location and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The computer implemented method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 (d) assigning at least one of the plurality of routers as a backup router;   (e) periodically receiving an indication of the status of the partitioning coordinator router; and   (f) when the partitioning coordinator router malfunctions, repartitioning the sources so that the at least one backup router performs the function of the partitioning coordinator router.   
     
     
         8 . The computer implemented method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 (d) configuring at least one router to transmit a status signal to the partitioning coordinator router at a predetermined period of time, wherein if the status signal is not received within the predetermined period of time, the sources associated with the at least one router are assigned to at least one other router within the distributed computer system without requiring reconfiguration of the at least one other router to the sources that have reassigned to it.   
     
     
         9 . The computer implemented method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 (e) upon receiving the status signal in (d), deciphering the signal to determine whether to reassign the sources assigned to the at least one router transmitting the status signal to another router among the plurality of routers.   
     
     
         10 . The computer implemented method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 (d) providing a messaging gateway to be in operative communication with the at least one message source, the messaging gateway being configured to place a message transmitted from the at least one message source into a proper format to be transferred through a transport mechanism.   
     
     
         11 . A distributed computing system for exchanging trading information comprising:
 (a) at least one message source configured to transmit a trade message, wherein the trade message comprises content;   (b) a messaging gateway in operative communication with the at least one message source that is configured to communicate with other message sources, the messaging gateway being configured to place a message transmitted from the at least one message source into a format to be transferred through a transport mechanism;   (c) a plurality of routers, comprising at least one partitioning coordinator router, and each including a computer readable medium having computer readable instructions for
 (i) dynamically partitioning available message sources among the plurality of routers to create a first assignment of the available message sources to the plurality of routers, 
 (ii) determining to initiate a partitioning of the available message sources among the plurality of routers, and 
 (iii) in response to (ii), dynamically partitioning the available message sources among the plurality of routers to create a second assignment of the available message sources to the plurality of routers, wherein the second assignment is different from the first assignment; and 
   (d) a computer readable medium having computer readable instructions comprising routing rules for routing the message of (a) to a computing device in the distributed computing environment based upon the content of the message.   
     
     
         12 . The distributed computing system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one message source comprises a plurality of different applications. 
     
     
         13 . The distributed computing system of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of different applications are not configured to create and process messages with a single format. 
     
     
         14 . The distributed computing system of  claim 11 , wherein computer readable medium having the computer readable instructions for dynamically partitioning the available sources is integrated with the partitioning coordinator router. 
     
     
         15 . The distributed computing system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 (e) a message gateway in operative communication at least one of the routers, wherein upon the message being routed by the router, the message is transmitted to the message gateway and altered for transport through a transport mechanism.   
     
     
         16 . The distributed computing system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 (e) a message gateway in operative communication at least one of the routers and configured to change the format of received messages into formats that may be interpreted by applications at endpoints.   
     
     
         17 . A method of transporting a trade message in a distributed computing system comprising a plurality of routers, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) detecting a plurality of routers within the distributed computing system;   (b) dynamically partitioning a plurality of available message sources that are configured to communicate with one another among the plurality of routers;   (c) transmitting from one of the message sources to a message gateway a trade message comprising content;   (d) altering a format of the trade message at the message gateway so that the message is in a format that may be interpreted by a destination message source; and   (e) routing the trade message to an associated router from (b), wherein routing of the trade message at the router is based upon the content of the message, wherein (b) comprises
 (i) dynamically partitioning the plurality of available message sources among the plurality of routers to create a first assignment of the plurality of available message sources to the plurality of routers, 
 (ii) determining to initiate a partitioning of the plurality of available message sources among the plurality of routers, and 
 (iii) in response to (ii), dynamically partitioning the plurality of available message sources among the plurality of routers to create a second assignment of the plurality of available message sources to the plurality of routers, wherein the second assignment is different from the first assignment. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the messages further comprise a message ID and the message gateway is configured to provide sequence preservation while permitting simultaneous concurrent processing of a plurality of messages. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the message further comprises a type, wherein the type of the trade message determines at least one transport mechanism that is utilized to transport the message. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein one of the available message sources includes a match engine.