At the MiFID II Workshop in London, Ulrich Kohn revealed how financial institutions can simply and efficiently achieve MiFID II compliance. By drawing on essential lessons learned from bringing precise synchronization to mobile networks, he offered sound predictions on the mid-term evolution of timing architectures in financial trading and outlined the optimum route to accurate, traceable and verifiable time synchronization.
2. • Precise timing in other verticals
• … lessons learnt; finally creating a time-
as-a-service (TaaS) market
• Initial focus on regulator compliance
• … by optimizing financial appliances
• Hardening and preparing for more
stringent requirements
• … by resiliently combining multiple
delivery mechanisms with assurance
Overview
Synchronization is Key Evolution of Timing in Finance
Making best use of advanced technology and emerging services
3. • Base stations and small cells
• Transactional services in finance
and other vertical markets
• Cable networks and emerging
distributed access architectures
• Utilities, e.g., substations in power
networks
• Precise synchronization for IoT and
distributed processes
General Need for Precise Synchronization
Accurate Timing Is Mandatory
Increasing number of appliances require ultra-precise timing
Good Enough?
4. Trinity of Timing Excellence in Finance
PTP
Delivery
Timing
Assurance
Long
HoldoverAtomic
Clocks
GNSS as
Reference
• Sync quality monitoring
• Packet delay performance
• Monitoring slave clocks
• Benefit from PTP
performance
• Traceable to UTC
• Redundancy
• Ultra-stable
clock
• Surviving
PTP/GNSS
outages
• Various
holdover
options
5. • Leverage PTP accuracy
• Protect investment with
existing NTP clients
by using …
• NTP/PTP gateway
• Enhancing NTP with precise
sync signal (1PPS)
• Upgrading legacy
appliances with SFP GM
Until Jan 3rd: NTP to PTP Migration
Initial Approach
Benefit from better PTP synchronization performance in a cost efficient way
Trade Execution
NTP ServerNTP Client
NTP Over
Packet Network
PTP Slave
Clock
NTP Client
NTP
PTP
PTP Grandmaster
Synchronized From UTC
PTP Over
Packet Network
NTP to PTP Migration
6. • Enhancing NTP with 1PPS physical
sync signal
• Backing up NTP server with
network- or satellite-provided
timing
• Monitoring quality of NTP server
• OSA 5421 multi-technology
grandmaster for timing deliver and
assurance
Customer Case: Making Timing Precise
NTP Enhancement
Seamless NTP-PTP migration with OSA 5421 multi-technology sync appliance
NTP Server
OSA 5421
Financial
Appliance
PTP Server1PPS
Site in Japan
Financial Services
Company
7. • PTP/NTP gateway, 1PPS
support
• GNSS-support: local clock,
assurance
• Analyzing network delay
characteristics
• Monitoring slave clocks in
financial applications
• Recording time accuracy
for compliance reasons
Before Jan 3rd: Sync Delivery & Assurance
Local Grandmaster
Immediately detecting any timing failures and preparing for audits
Financial Institution
NTP Server, PTP
Grandmaster
LAN
WAN
Service Provider
8. • Partially time-aware WANs
• Precise, reliable, traceable
PTP-provided timing
• Synchronization assurance
at hand-off point
• Monitoring of delivered
synchronization quality
but also slave clocks
(optional)
Time as a Service (TaaS)
Timing Demarcation
Reporting of timing quality against service level agreements
PTP
Grandmaster
LAN
WAN
TaaS ProviderFinancial Institution
9. • Long holdover times for
bridging external failures
• Balance cost and need
with rubidium or cesium
clocks
• Highest availability by
combining network-based,
GNSS-based timing with
atomic clock-based timing
Surviving Failures in Time Delivery
Atomic Clocks
Increasing robustness of timing network with ultra-stable oscillators
PTP
Grandmaster
LAN
WAN
TaaS Provider
Atomic
Clock
Financial Institution
10. Solution Portfolio
Various opportunities to enhance accuracy of time distribution
OSA 5401 SyncPlugTM:
SFP-based on-site PTP
grandmaster
OSA 5405 SyncReachTM:
Onsite grandmaster with
integrated dual-GNSS
receiver
OSA 5420: Edge
grandmaster featuring
various oscillator
options, NTP gateway
OSA 3300: Optical
atomic cesium clock
for longest holdover
LAN TaaS ProviderFinancial
Institution
Service
Providers
11. • NTP performance of financial
appliances is enhanced/migrated
to PTP
• Operationalization with sync
assurance and atomic clocks
• Time will be provided as a service
by communication service
providers, metrological institutes,
data center operators
Summary
Timekeeping in Financial Trading
Oscilloquartz for better times in financial trading