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Low Latency Optimized Systems

Feel the Need for Speed??

If moving data as fast as physics allows is important for the success of your networking applications, then the SkyLink CG Low Latency Optimized System is your must have solution!

SkyLink CG

Low Latency Optimized Microwave Networking

Cielo Networks uniquely offers the benefits of microwave networking AND proven best in class low latency system performance

  • image003Microwave radio data transmission - 33% faster than fiber, close to speed of light in a vacuum
  • Microwave paths – shorter “great circle” path between distant cities compared to fiber
  • Lower installation and deployment costs
  • Much faster deployment time than new fiber construction
  • Microwave radios can be relocated and reused elsewhere should facilities or network locations change – No high fiber network “sunk” costs
  • SkyLink CG + optional low latency modes - lowest latency solution available on the market today
  • Cielo Networks commitment to low latency innovation – an aggressive road map for progressive SkyLink CG system latency reduction

 

What would it look like to ride along with a SkyLink CG microwave signal at nearly the speed of light? Like this: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111018.html

In Depth: Low Latency Optimized Microwave Networking

image006A number of communications applications have emerged in recent years that put a premium on minimum point to point circuit latency - moving bits & packets from point A to B at the fastest possible speed, mostly on long distance inter-city routes. Among these applications are various forms of “high frequency trading” or computer to computer algorithmic trading which comprise a large and growing percentage of all the financial & investment market activity today. The speed with which these trades can be executed often impacts the traders’ success; thus the lowest possible latency for data interconnectivity among key market exchanges and trading data centers is of paramount importance.

While various fiber optic network options to support the low latency requirements have evolved over time, the inherent limitations of fiber data transmission have put a limit on achievable latencies across these networks. Foremost, digital light pulses in a fiber optic cable travel much slower than the speed of light in a vacuum or in the atmosphere. Additionally, topographical constraints such as mountains, rivers, cities and highways often prevent the fiber cables from being installed along the shortest possible “great circle” path between two distant city endpoints. And installing dedicated “shortest possible path” fiber networks over hundreds or thousands of miles is very expensive, resulting in extremely high monthly charges from fiber optic network service providers. And fiber optic networks are the ultimate “sunk” investment; once in the ground, the money spent can only provide circuits to the facilities they touch.

Terrestrial microwave radio signals overcome these fiber limitations by traveling through the atmosphere near the earth’s surface at very close to the speed of light. These paths can be constructed along or very close to the shortest distance between the desired endpoints using mountaintops and/or existing or newly constructed radio towers as microwave radio relay points. Microwave radio networks can typically be deployed for a fraction of the cost of fiber networks, and unlike fiber, microwave radio systems can be moved and reused elsewhere when needed. This superior end to end latency and cost-effectiveness has now made microwave radio technology the low latency medium of choice in this highly competitive industry.

But not all microwave radio systems can insure circuit latency competitiveness. The wide variety of system types and differing feature sets results in a very wide range of latency performance across the microwave radio supplier and products base. By far the biggest global market for digital microwave radios over the last 20 years has been for mobile phone network interconnection, and almost all microwave radio systems on the market today have extensive IP switching and routing functionality and payload framing, buffering, and grooming functions that add hundreds of microseconds of latency. Cielo Networks’ SkyLink CG system with its low latency optimization options is the first microwave radio system specifically engineered to minimize end to end circuit latency. As noted in a recent trading industry article: “Microwave radio technology’s cost-effectiveness can level the playing field and make very low latency circuits available to more trading firms,” said Len Gee, Sales Director at Cielo Networks.” Added Gordon Moller, Cielo Networks’ CEO, “As a supplier of microwave radio systems used in traditional telecom applications, we noted the nascent HFT networks opportunity early and quickly developed low latency optimized versions of our systems. We’ve been delivering these systems for some time, while concurrently pursuing further latency innovations for our customers. Our sole focus in the HFT market is to provide the world’s lowest latency point to point communications technology; we’re faster than fiber now and steadily pulling out ever more circuit latency."

To learn more details about Cielo Networks’ SkyLink CG low latency optimized systems and our aggressive latency reduction road map, contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .