This section describes how to implement FIX Adapted for Streaming (FAST) protocol.
The FIX Adapted for Streaming (FAST) Protocol has been developed as part of the FIX Market Data Optimization Working Group. FAST is designed to optimize electronic exchange of financial data, particularly for high volume, low latency data dissemination. This document describes implementation of FAST in receiving and processing Quotes Direct-encoded electronic market data feed.
For more information see the FIX FAST (version 1.x.1) specification at:
http://www.fixprotocol.org/documents/3066/FAST%20Specification%201%20x%201.pdf
FAST is a data compression algorithm that significantly reduces bandwidth requirements and latency between sender and receiver. FAST works especially well at improving performance during periods of peak message rates. FAST extends the base FIX specification and assumes the use of FIX message formats and data structures. FAST is a standalone specification that uses templates to inform the receiver which operations to use in decoding. Templates allow FAST to achieve high levels of data compression with low processing overhead and latency compared to other compression utilities such as Zlib.
Note: This document describes concepts applicable to CQG-specific FAST implementation; which is supplementary to the FAST specification referenced above.