Are FPGAs the Miracle Cure?
With the advent of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Rule 15c3-5 on pre-trade risk due to take effect in a matter of weeks, the industry seem to have settled on the use of low-latency field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to make the necessary risk calculations.
However, we are only at the tip of the iceberg in adopting this architecture. It is not until any typical programmer can program these devices easily that one can say that the industry has accepted the technology, an industry contact told me recently.
In the meantime, the use of FPGAs will be a relatively expensive proposition in terms of purchasing, deploying and managing them from both a hardware and human perspective. Finding programmers well versed in the hardware description language (HDL) used by FPGAs and keeping them fat and happy in this competitive environment is going to strain the personnel budget.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. Vendors are working hard to either hide or eliminate the need to code in HDL.
Processor giant Intel is continuing to work on its Many Integrated Core (MIC) architecture that will integrate up to 32 cores on to a single die, according to vendor officials. The immediate benefit of the new architecture is that Intel multi-core and many-core platforms share the same programming model, letting C or C++ source code be compiled for either platform depending on which works best.
Microsoft researchers are also on the case with their Project Kiwi, which looks to model digital circuits with concurrent programs using a standard library in C# for multi-threaded programming among other things, according to vendor officials.
Then there are always the smaller vendors, such as British Columbia-based Secodix, that believe that they have built a better mousetrap. Secodix is betting that its eXtreme Processing Unit (XPU), which supports C++ programming on FPGA architecture, will have prospective clients knocking on its door.
Expect to see similar products to pop up in the months and year to come while the industry wrestles on a de facto standard.
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. Printing this content is for the sole use of the Authorised User (named subscriber), as outlined in our terms and conditions - https://www.infopro-insight.com/terms-conditions/insight-subscriptions/
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. Copying this content is for the sole use of the Authorised User (named subscriber), as outlined in our terms and conditions - https://www.infopro-insight.com/terms-conditions/insight-subscriptions/
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Trading Tech
Nasdaq to market new options strike listing tech to other exchanges
The exchange operator is experimenting with emerging technologies to determine which options strike prices belong in a crowded market, with hopes to sell the tech to its peers.
The IMD Wrap: Talk about ‘live’ data, NAFIS 2024 is here
This year’s North American Financial Information Summit takes place this week, with an expanded agenda. Max highlights some of the must-attend sessions and new topics. But first, a history lesson...
MarketAxess builds strategy around X-Pro
MarketAxess profits were down in Q1, but revenues were up and automation volume hit a record $94 billion.
Canada’s triparty repo launch aims to fill C$60bn void
Test trades on TMX/Clearstream platform represent “quantum leap” for creaking funding markets.
People Moves: NorQuant, Tradition, Duco, HKEx, SimCorp, Hazeltree, Xceptor, Broadridge, and more
A look at the past month’s people moves in the capital markets technology and data space.
Bank-led consortium takes aim at position reporting
Five banks, including Barclays, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and HSBC, have joined forces to mitigate interpretation and implementation errors in position reporting disclosures.
This Week: BBH, AllianceBernstein add data solutions, Deutsche Börse-Nodal Exchange, and more
A summary of some of the latest financial technology news.
Consortium backs BGC’s effort to challenge CME
Banks and market makers—including BofA, Citi, Goldman, Jump and Tower—will have a 26% stake in FMX.
Most read
- Waters Wavelength Podcast: Bloomberg’s Tony McManus
- IMD & IRD Awards 2024: All the winners
- Waters Wavelength Podcast: S&P’s CTO on AI, data, and the future of datacenters