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`I
`USOOSZ70922A
`5,270,922
`[11} Patent Number:
`[19]
`Umted States Patent
`
`Higgins
`[45] Date of Patent:
`Dec. 14, 1993
`
`[54] SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTING,
`PROCESSING AND DISPLAYING
`FINANCIAL INFORMATION
`
`[75]
`
`Inventor: Gerard M. Higgins, Staten Island,
`N'Y‘
`[73] Assignee: Merrill Lynch & Company, Inc., New
`York, NY.
`5951
`72 ’
`Jun. 27. 1991
`
`21 A1.N.:
`I
`[
`.W o
`[22] Filed:
`
`[63]
`
`Related US' Application Data
`Continuation of Ser. No. 626,339, Jun. 29, 1984, aban~
`d°ned-
`Int. 01.5 ........................ Go6r 15/20; G066 7/52
`[51]
`[52] US. Cl.
`.................................................... 364/408
`[58] Field of Search ................ 364/408, 229.41, 283.2;
`340“2527; 395/800
`
`[56]
`
`_
`References (31th
`us PATENT DOCUMENTS
`,
`.
`gflgééizg 1323;}, Egaliilaluggz/Ssfi
`
`.. 340/325.”
`3823:3237
`7/1974 McClellan
`.......
`3311.403 10/1975 O‘Neill, Jr.
`364/900
`
`
`.. 40/825213 x
`3,976,840
`8/1976 Cleveland e: a],
`....... 364/200
`4,008,460 2/1977 Bryant et al.
`
`
`4,063.03] 12/1977 Grunza --------------- 381/43
`
`4,186,438
`1/1980 Benson et a1.
`364/200
`2/1981 Kirschner et a1.
`4,253,157
`364/900
`
`4,334,270 6/1982 Towers .............
`364/408
`
`4,346,442
`8/1982 Musmanno
`364/900
`....... 364/900
`4,376,978
`3/1983 Musmanno
`
`
`.. 364/900 X
`8/1983 _Hosono .........
`4,398.250
`
`4:432’057 2/ 1934 Dame“ et 31-
`------ 364/300
`
`..
`,
`,
`a
`BS .....
`12:22:: 1323:: $12201 -------
`- “(g/5234(2); §
`
`4.491.725
`1/1985 Pritchard ..
`235/375
`4,547,851 10/1985 Kurland ........
`364/410
`
`1/1986 Lockwood
`4,567,359
`235/381
`
`
`.. 179/2 A
`3/1986 Hilleary et a1.
`4,577,062
`
`4,881,179 11/1939 Vincent ................ 364/518
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`1489571 10/1977 United Kingdom ................ 364/408
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`"Technical Analysis Software Directory", Wall Street
`Computer Review, vol. 2, No. 8, Jun. 1985, 67—70, 72-79.
`Everest, G. C. Database Management. (McGraw-Hill
`Book Com an 2 New York) 1986 746.
`FY
`.’
`.
`Chamoff, M. E. et a1. “Dynamic Self—Optlmlzmg Price
`Lookup for Retail Terminal System", IBM Tech. Dad.
`Bull, vol. 24, No. 2, Jul. 1981, 976-8.
`Primary Examiner—Ray N. Envall, Jr.
`Assistant Examiner—Laura Brutman
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Hopgood, Calimafde, Kalil,
`Blaustem & Judlowe
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACI‘
`_
`,
`.
`.
`,
`A data processmg and communicatlon system dlstrlb-
`utes and displays fmanClal market
`tlcker, quotat1on,
`news and ancillary information via a plurality of stored
`program controlled work stations. Stock trade execu-
`tions, quotations and other ticker plant information is
`communicated in parallel to a hierarchy of system data
`processmg terminals, e.g., those located at area, branch
`and individual work station locations. Storage media at
`the several system data processing levels extracts and
`stores data base information of differing purport and
`completeness for the disseminated data to support the
`system work station use“.
`.
`.
`,
`In accordance With one aspect of the present Invention,
`information characterizing a dynamically changing
`sub-population of the overall ensemble of market securi-
`ties is maintained at and becomes immediately available
`to each work station responsive to the pattern of usage
`‘
`'
`‘
`.
`at that specific station. Various derivative tasks, such as
`sew“? 93:31:“? 31°“? at” if: ngrlfmgfblefid
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`
`17 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
`
`IPR Petition - USP 7,864,956
`
`Amazon EX. 1007
`
`Page 1
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Dec. 14, 1993
`
`Sheet 1 of 5
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`5,270,922
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`US. Patent
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`US. Patent
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`Dec. 14, 1993
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`Sheet 3 of 5
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`5,270,922
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`

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`US. Patent
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`Dec. 14,1993
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`Sheet 4 of 5
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`Page 5
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`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Dec. 14, 1993
`
`Sheet 5 of 5
`
`5,270,922
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`Page 6
`
`

`

`1
`
`5,270,922
`
`SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTING, PROCESSING AND
`DISPLAYING FINANCIAL INFORMATION
`
`This is a continuation of copending application Ser.
`No. 06/626,339 filed on Jun. 29, 1984 now abandoned.
`
`DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
`
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`to dynamically update the work station data base mar-
`ket security sub-population; and
`FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating work station ticker
`and related processing in accordance with the instant
`invention.
`Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, hereinafter re-
`ferred to as composite FIG. 1, there is shown in block
`diagram form improved communications and data pro-
`cessing apparatus for communicating information char-
`acterizing financial markets generated at a central, com-
`mon location, and for making that information available
`at a potentially large number of subscriber work stations
`110W“ e.g.,
`located on desks of brokerage industry
`account executives,
`their customers, and/or others
`whose business or interest is the world of finance. Ex-
`amining the system in overview, each work station
`110,-,” includes a display 107, e.g., a cathode ray tube
`controlled by a central processor 103. The work station
`110%], also includes a program containing memory 109,
`e.g., a read only (ROM) device and variable content
`memory 111, e.g., a random access (RAM) unit. The
`user work station RAM 111 contains a good deal of the
`data of most interest to the specific work station 110
`user and, in general, the RAM 11] contents vary from
`user to user. RAM 111 may also contain programs or
`program portions.
`Each work station 110;“ has access to information
`stored in more senior computers in the computer hierar-
`chy of the instant invention. Thus, for example, the
`O broker at the illustrated work station 110W, (and all
`others similarly situated) has access to his branch com-
`puter 90);), and,
`in particular, to the variable content
`RAM memories 95 and 96 there located which supply
`information beyond that capable of storage in the RAM
`111 of work station 110;); Yet further continuing up
`the computer hierarchy, the work station 110%}, has
`access to the contents of a RAM 60 in an area-serving
`computer 501, with which its branch is associated. Ulti-
`mately, all system work stations 110 can access the
`master customer data base memory 12 in a home office
`main frame computer.
`The basic data characterizing securities trading is
`generated in the manner per se well known to those
`skilled in the art. In particular, trading information (e.g.,
`execution prices and volume, and quotations) are sup-
`plied by the New York Stock Exchange 28 to a ticker
`plant 35. Also supplied to ticker plant 35 is comparable
`trading information from the several so-called regional
`exchanges 301 through 30". Other, domestic and world-
`wide information may be included as well. The output
`of the ticker plant is information characterizing stock
`trade executions at the respective exchanges, as well as
`bid and asked quotation information. The output of the
`ticker plant 35, as presently constituted and per se
`known,
`is the ticker of common experience which is
`distributed typically via land lines to brokerage houses
`and other financial institutions.
`In accordance with the present invention, the ticker
`plant output is supplied via a microwave uplink 38 for
`satellite distribution to receive-only earth stations at the
`area and branch computer locations 50 and 90. For
`redundant transmission, the ticker information is also
`radiated on a multiplexed basis with a television pro-
`gram. Such data multiplexing with a television signal is
`per se well known and may be included, for example, as
`digital information modulating the video carrier in the
`vertical retrace interval to not be recoverable by con-
`ventional television receivers tuned to the underlying
`
`This invention relates to data communication and
`processing systems and, more specifically, to a system
`for distributing, processing and displaying financial
`market data, news and the like.
`It is an object of the present invention to provide
`improved user friendly apparatus for communicating,
`storing, processing and displaying financial market in-
`formation, news and other original and derivative data.
`More specifically, it is an object of the present inven-
`tion to provide apparatus and methodology to commu-
`nicate and display information useful for securities bro-
`kers,
`investors, and others concerned with financial
`markets; to provide multiple viewing windows to dis-
`play diverse and/or related ticker and other market
`information; and which permits interactive user control
`at system microprocessor governed work stations.
`It
`is another object of the present
`invention that
`stored program controlled subscriber work stations in a
`financial market information communication and dis-
`play system permit
`local and immediate access to a
`dynamically changing sub-population of securities of 3
`particular interest; and that full securities data is stored
`on a hierarchal basis at varying system facilities.
`The above and other objects of the present invention
`are realized in a specific, illustrative system for distrib-
`uting, processing and displaying financial market ticker,
`quotation, news and ancillary information via a plural-
`ity of stored program controlled work stations. Stock
`trade executions, quotations and other ticker plant in-
`formation is communicated in parallel to a hierarchy of
`system data processing terminals, e.g., those located at
`area, branch and individual work station locations.
`Storage media at the several system data processing
`levels extracts and stores data base information of differ-
`ing purport and completeness for the disseminated data
`to support the system work station users.
`In accordance with one aspect of the present inven~
`tion, information characterizing a dynamically chang-
`ing sub-population of the market securities is maintained
`at and becomes immediately available to each work
`station responsive to the pattern of usage at that specific
`station. Various derivative tasks, such as security price
`limit alerts and customized, selective ticker displays, are
`user programmable and are actuated by the work sta-
`tion data base.
`The above and other features and advantages of the
`instant invention will become more clear from the fol-
`lowing detailed description of a specific,
`illustrative
`embodiment thereof presented hereinbelow in conjunc-
`‘tion with the accompanying drawing, in which:
`FIGS. 1A and 1B are the upper and lower portions of 60
`a schematic block diagram of a system in accordance
`with the instant invention for distributing, processing
`and displaying financial information;
`FIG. 2 is an illustrative display presented to a system
`user via a work station cathode ray tube in accordance
`with the principles of the present invention;
`FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating user work station
`data processing to generate quotation information and
`
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`Page 7
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`5,270,922
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`3
`television program. Receiving equipment 70 at the area
`and branch computer locations 50 and 90 receives the
`radiated versions of the ticker plant 35 output.
`Advantageously for market information continuity
`assurance, the receiving location apparatus 70 includes
`antennas 80 and 81 for respectively receiving each of
`the satellite and television radiated signals. Examining
`the receiving equipment shown in FIG. 1A for area
`computer 501,,
`illustrative of all such apparatus,
`the
`satellite and VHF or UHF television-multiplexed sig-
`nals are respectively received at antennas 80 or 81 and
`detected by RF receivers 781 and 782. Antenna surro-
`gates, such as cable television delivery systems, may be
`employed. A demultiplexer 77 selects the base band
`data stream output of one or the other of radio recei-
`ver/detectors 78 i or 782 under control of central proces-
`sor 72 in accordance with any appropriate algorithm
`stored in a ROM memory 74. Thus, for example, the
`CPU can receive and temporarily store in a RAM 76
`the data stream outputs of both receivers 781 and 782
`and select that one exhibiting the lower error rate.
`Other selection algorithms will be readily apparent to
`those skilled in the art.
`The securities trading information is thus coincident-
`ally supplied directly to each of the system branch and
`area computers 90 and 50in parallel on an over-the-air,
`radiated basis. In each area computer 50, e.g., the unit
`501‘ shown in FIG. 1A, the received trading information
`is stored by the main central processing unit 56 under
`control of the program stored in read only memory 57.
`In the area computer 50k, which is senior in the com-
`puter 50—90-110 hierarchy of FIG. 2, complete market
`data for substantially the entire population of monitored
`securities is retained in RAM 60. The functions of ele-
`ments 72, 74 and 76 could of course be performed di-
`rectly by elements 56, 57 and 60.
`Correspondingly, in a branch computer 90, e.g., the
`computer 9011/0 variable content RAM memory 96
`makes no attempt to store all of the monitored securi-
`ties. Rather, RAM memory 96 stores information for
`only a subset of the entire securities population corre-
`sponding to those securities which are of generally
`popular interest. Computer 901;), memory 96 thus retains
`current market information for a securities population
`less than that of the area computer 501, but substantially
`greater than that retained in RAM 111 of the work
`stations 110,-“ associated with the branch 90,;k.
`As a matter of overall system philosophy, when a
`work station 110%)! seeks current price information for
`a security not then within its memory 111, it seeks such
`information from its associated branch computer 90M-
`If the information is not available at the branch level,
`the branch computer 901;), inquires of the area computer
`50k via connecting modems 91 and 52 and communica-
`tions link 83. Thus a reasonable amount of memory and
`computing power is employed at the several system
`hierarchal
`levels commensurate with the reasonable
`needs of those levels. All information is obtainable at a
`work station 110 either from its internal storage, from
`its branch, or from its area. Additional information may
`be obtained, as needed, from the home office main
`frame central processor 14 and data base 12 (source
`level 10) via communications apparatus 22 (e.g., the
`switched telephone network) and modem 25; or from
`external data base(s) 26 via a modem 27.
`The illustrative branch computer 901;), includes a
`RAM 95 which stores historical information character-
`izing securities of interest, e.g., past earnings, price
`
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`earnings ratio, dividend history, annual high and low
`prices, and so forth. Such information is available to any
`work station 110 associated with that branch 90),], via
`appropriate keyboard 112 entries (“full quote”) at the
`work station. The current stock price information RAM
`96 and the historical, corporate information stored in
`RAM 95 are shown distinct in FIG. 2. The two memo-
`ries 9S and 96 may of course be separate or commingled
`portions of a single such memory.
`As a final source of information for the system of
`FIG. 1, one or more source level 10 news wire source(s)
`24 supply financial news via land lines 25 to the various
`area and branch computers 50 and 90 and, via the
`branch computers, to the various work stations 110.
`Illustrative of currently available news wire sources are
`those provided by Dow Jones and Reuters. Altema-
`tively, the news information furnished by source 24 can
`be multiplexed and radiated with the output of ticker
`plant 35 for distribution to area, branch and work sta-
`tion computers.
`It is an objective and purpose of the instant invention
`to make use of the market and news information gener-
`ated by ticker plant 35 and news wire source(s) 24 at the
`various system work stations 110. That is,
`the work
`stations 110 have a signal entry keyboard 112 which
`may be employed by a user (e.g., a broker) to specify
`various kinds of information desired for viewing via his
`display 107. As above noted, part of the market infor-
`mation resides within his work station in RAM 111.
`Additional quotations not already at his location are
`loaded via multiplexer/dcmultiplexer 105 under central
`processor 103 control via multiplexer control port 105:
`from the associated branch computer 90 or area com-
`puter 50. The information presented at display 107 may
`comprise a single field of information, e.g., a quotation,
`a ticker flow or the like. Alternatively, in accordance
`with one aspect of the instant invention, a multi-win-
`dow display may be presented via the cathode ray tube
`107. Moreover, depending upon the user-entered key
`strokes, the specific format of the multi-window display
`may vary. Presenting plural “windows” or fields on a
`single cathode ray tube display is of course per se well
`known to those skilled in the art and is available via
`IBM, Bell Laboratories and others.
`One illustrative multi-window presentation for dis-
`play 107 at a system work station 110 is shown in FIG.
`2. The composite presentation has a first field 142 which
`simply comprises the complete New York Stock Ex-
`change ticker (a series of stock transaction messages for
`stock executions on that exchange). The field includes a
`sequence of messages each formed of a stock symbol
`14:! followed by the volume (in hundreds of shares) 144
`and the trade price 145. The price 145 may have its first
`digit deleted, and volume may be omitted on reasonably
`busy days to obviate undue ticker delays. Examining,
`for example, the first trade constituent in the ticker data
`field 142 in display 107, one viewing the ticker would
`know that 5,0“) shares of the security having an ex-
`change symbol ABC traded at a price of 905.
`The multiple window display format chosen by the
`user via keyboard 112 includes a second ticker (“TICK-
`ER-Z”) specified under the user control. In accordance
`with varying aspects of the present invention, the user
`may format his own personal
`ticker by establishing
`criteria which a trade message from ticker plant 35 must
`satisfy to pass to the TICKER~2 window field 147 for
`viewing. The criteria, stored in RAM 111, may specify
`trades in only a specific enumerated list of securities,
`
`Page 8
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`

`

`5,270,922
`
`5
`trades from specific exchange(s), and/or so forth. This
`gives rise to a relatively slow speed, focused ticker
`which eliminates the clutter associated with trading of
`securities of no interest to the operator of the specific
`work station 110.
`A display field 149 forms a scrolling presentation of
`the news reported via the source 24; and a field 151 in
`the particular display format shown contains limit-
`exceeding information. The entry illustrated in FIG. 2
`identifies a security (MNO) which has last traded (255)
`outside (lower) a bound (253) stored in RAM 111. Up-
`side and downside limits are often used by brokers and
`investors as buy or sell conditions and are of interest
`both to the broker and to his customers owuing those
`securities.
`
`A further, MONITOR field 153 contains price infor-
`mation for a predetermined population of securities of
`interest to that particular broker. Each entry includes an
`identification 154 (the stock symbol), a designation 155
`of the market where the last trade occurred, an arrow
`157 signalling whether the last trade was an uptick or
`downtick, and the currently obtaining bid and ask
`prices 158. Finally, a QUICK-QUOTE field 157 pro-
`vides a quotation for a particular stock (ABC) having a
`symbol entered by the user via keyboard 112. Reading
`across the illustrative entry of FIG. 2, the stock symbol
`is followed by an identifier for the exchange executing
`the last trade (New York) in the security, an arrow
`showing the tick direction of the last trade (up), the
`trade price (902), the current bid (90%) and asked (90%)
`prices and the exchanges where those bid and ask prices
`came from (bid-Boston and New York, asked—American
`and Toronto), the bid and ask volume sizes (60 and 5
`respectively), the number of shares (230,800) of that
`security traded so far during that business day, and the
`time of the last trade (12:02).
`Other windows in addition to or superimposed upon
`the display of FIG. 2 may be employed as well. Thus,
`for example, a field may signal the operative stored
`securities limits as just one example among many.
`Each of the data fields in FIG. 2 may be displayed,
`alone, on the face of the cathode ray tube under user
`control entered via the keyboard 112. Alternatively as
`above discussed, one of various multi-window formats
`may be specified via the keyboard 112, as again is per se
`well known, to present a number of data fields simulta-
`neously.
`As alluded to above, it is one of the offices of the
`instant
`invention to store within each work station
`
`110[J,k and in particular in the RAM memory 111 there
`located,
`information characterizing the securities of
`interest to that broker or other work station user. To
`that end, the stored computer program automatically
`stores in the variable content RAM memory 111 of the
`subject work station securities identification and price
`data corresponding to a limited, predetermined number
`(e.g., 300 for purposes of specificity only) of securities
`whose price information was last requested at that work
`station. When the station 110 is at its upper storage limit
`(300), a new quotation request automatically causes the
`central processor 103 to discard the oldest security in
`the limited stored population, i.e., the one last viewed
`prior to later quotation requests for 300 different securi-
`ties.
`
`As new trades in the monitored 300 security popula-
`tion are reported via the ticker plant 35, communica-
`tions link receiver 98, demultiplexer 105 and work sta-
`tion central processor 103 automatically change the
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`stored price information in RAM 111. The stored secu-
`rity price information also automatically changes the
`price presentation for the respective securities wher-
`ever a security appears in any of the multiple windows
`(fields) of the display 107. That is, new price informa-
`tion for any particular stock will change in each win-
`dow in which that security appears. For example, a
`price change in the price of the equity whose symbol is
`assumed to be ABC for the illustrative display of FIG.
`2 causes changes in at least the MONITOR field 153,
`the NYSE Ticker 142, and in the QUICK-QUOTE field
`157 all of which derive their refreshed information from
`the work station data base in RAM 111. If the last trade
`exceeded a limit, an appropriate message would be
`generated as well in field 151.
`Attention will now be directed to the flow chart of
`FIG. 3 which presents the operative program for main-
`taining the data base in the work station 110 RAM 111
`to reflect the limited (300) entries most recently queried
`at that specific work station. The program for dynami-
`cally controlling storage at the user’s work station 110 is
`typically stored in the read only memory, or ROM 109
`there included although RAM 111 storage is also possi-
`ble. To reiterate, it is the function of the dynamic stor-
`age algorithm to maintain in the variable, RAM mem-
`ory 111 at the user’s station 110 information associated
`with the 300 securities for which quotations were most
`recently requested at that station (and which are thus
`most likely to generate future quotation requests). To
`this end, RAM 111 includes a “least recently used" or
`LRU list which stores the stock symbols of the most
`recently requested 300 (or fewer) securities. It will be
`assumed that the most recently requested security re-
`sides in the top, or first position, in that list; and that the
`least recently requested symbol is stored at the bottom
`of the list in a jeopardy position to be purged if a new
`security, not otherwise in the LRU list, is entered at the
`work station keyboard 112 (assuming a full complement
`of 300 items). A processing variable LRUSZ is main-
`tained to indicate the size or number of items in the
`LRU list. Programming for the instant invention may of
`course be in any convenient language which is stored
`and implemented on any of the diverse forms of digital
`processing apparatus.
`To illustrate specific operation of the dynamic stor-
`age reallocation algorithm, assume that a broker or
`other user at the work station 110w; illustrated in FIG.
`1B wishes a quotation on any desired security. He enters
`the corresponding symbol for the security as by his
`signal entry keyboard 112 (functional step 201 in FIG.
`3). Test 205 then examines the LRU table to determine
`whether the newly entered stock symbol is already in
`the LRU list. If it is (YES output of test 205), test 206
`examines the command message entered through key-
`board 112 to determine whether the user wishes a full
`quote (e.g., including historical and derived (e.g., price-
`earnings ratio) information not locally available at the
`work station 110 or the more common so—called quick
`quote price and volume information which is locally
`available. If a full quote is desired, the work station 110
`obtains the historical information from the historical
`
`65
`
`information memory 95 in the branch computer 9013* via
`the communicating demultiplexer 105. If desired, his-
`torical information of varying levels of detail may be
`distributed between the branch and area RAMs 95 and
`60. In either event, either the quick quote or full quote
`after data retrieval from RAM 95 is displayed for the
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`7
`user (step 215) as via the user’s cathode ray tube display
`107.
`
`5,270,922
`
`Tracing the alternate output path from the test 205,
`assume that the stock symbol requested was not one
`recently examined at the specific work station 110W(
`and therefore was not in the LRU list locally available
`from the work station 110 RAM 111 (N0 output path of
`test 205). When this condition obtains, the desired quo-
`tation is retrieved from the branch RAM 96 (or higher
`order computer if necessary)—step 220. Depending
`upon whether a full quote or quick quote was specified
`by the input command entered by the user at keyboard
`112,
`test 222 fetches the full
`information from the
`branch RAM 95 if appropriate (step 224) or skips this
`operation if only a quick quote was desired. The follow-
`ing operation 227 stores the securities information just
`obtained in the user’s work station variable memory
`111, and step 229 sets a flag bit in some predetermined
`location (e.g., FLAG) to signal that FIG. 3 processing
`is dealing with a security not previously stored at the
`user’s work station 110 memory 111. As before, the
`quotation information is displayed in its full or quick
`(limited) form in the display step 215.
`Following delivery of the information to the user’s
`display 107, the symbol for the security just requested
`'by the user is put on top of the LRU list which signals
`that this security was most recently requested at the
`work station 1105);], (step 217).
`The remainder of the functional operation depicted in
`FIG. 3 then serves to maintain the least recently used
`(LRU) list in correct form as well as to maintain the list
`size variable (LRUSZ) at the correct value. To this end,
`test 219 examines the contents of the flag bit (FLAG) to
`determine whether or not the symbol most recently
`procesed was new to the data table (it being new fol-
`lowing the N0 output of test 205 but not for the YES
`output of that test). If the flag bit was not set (N 0 output
`of test 219) signalling that the stock symbol (and its
`concomitant information) was already in the LRU list
`and in the RAM 111 data table, step 230 searches
`through the LRU list after position 1 and deletes the
`second appearance of the symbol in the list. The symbol
`is deleted since it is known to be in the first or most
`senior position in the LRU list as a result of step 217 and
`thus its redundant presence is discarded. That com-
`pletes operation of the FIG. 3 dynamic storage realloca-
`tion for the assumed branch of data processing which
`thus goes to the end point of the subroutine and passes
`to system control for other system business.
`When test 219 signals that the flag bit was set (YES
`output signalling that the symbol was new to the LRU
`list) test 235 next determines whether or not the LRU
`list is at its maximum size (LRUSZZ 300). If it is not, the
`data table can accept a new symbol without deleting an
`old one. Accordingly, the LRU size variable is incre-
`mented by one (LRUSZ=LRUSZ+1) in step 240, the
`flag bit is cleared (step 242), and processing is com—
`pleted. Correspondingly, if the LRU table is full (YES
`output of test 235), the bottom element in the LRU list
`is deleted (step 237). The flag bit is then cleared (step
`242) ending the routine.
`Accordingly, the FIG. 3 mode of data processing
`automatically maintains within the work station 110
`RAM 111 a list (LRU) of the 300 most recently re-
`quested stock symbols at that station. The newer of the
`stock symbols requested are in the top portion of the list
`while the older symbols are in the bottom part of the
`list, with symbols being deleted if they are not requested
`
`5
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`10
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`15
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`20
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`25
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`30
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`45
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`8
`a second time before 300 other quotations are entered at
`the user keyboard 112.
`It will be apparent that the stock symbols in the LRU
`list and the corresponding stock price values and other
`information, will vary from time to time for any user of
`the equipment 110.7,); and will differ at any given time
`for different system work stations presumably having
`operators who enter different patterns of quotations.
`The local variable memory 111 of each work station 110
`will thereby store the information most likely to be next
`needed by each station user and which will be quickly
`available to that person, not requiring interrogation
`(other than for “historical” information) from any other
`system computer thus obviating communication and
`possible queueing delays.
`Finally, attention will be directed to the flow chart of
`FIG. 4 which presents the operative program for dy-
`namically updating data in the user’s RAM 111 data
`base characterizing the stocks having a present applica-
`tion for that user. That is, FIG. 4 depicts the manner in
`which current price and other market data is loaded
`into the user's RAM 111 to provide current information
`for each component of the display (FIG. 2) of the user’s
`cathode ray tube 107. It will be assumed for simplicity
`of discussion that each separate display application
`(FIG. 2 field or window) has an associated list in RAM
`memory 111 of those symbols currently of interest, i.e.,
`there exists a first list (LRU table) for the 300 most
`recently requested quotations, 3 second list for those
`securities for whom limits are being maintained, further
`lists for the ticker presentations, and so forth. Each list
`would contain or have a pointer to all data for each
`security in that list. Alternatively, a single integrated list
`and data table may be employed for all stocks for which
`there is any current application, together with one or
`more identifiers which record those application(s) for
`which the stock data is required.
`Examining the flow chart of FIG. s, the first step 301
`reads into the computer CPU the next incoming stock
`symbol, price, volume and related information (ticker
`message) originated by ticker plant 35, and furnished to
`the work station now: via its corresponding branch
`apparatus 70,80,81 via cable 103 and demultiplexer 105.
`Test 303 examines each of the application stock lists
`(i.e., the LRU list, the list associated with the limit pro-
`cessing, and so forth). If the security being character-
`ized by the ticker plant message is not in any such list
`(NO output of test 303), control passes to test 320 to
`determine whether or not the stock data is appropriate
`for one of the tickers (e.g., 142 or 147 of FIG. 2) in the
`user display. Assuming that the trade information being
`reported by ticker plant 35 is germane to one or m