To slow, or not to slow? New science in sub-second networks

摘要

What happens when you slow down part of an ultrafast network that isoperating quicker than the blink of an eye, e.g. electronic exchange network,navigational systems in driverless vehicles, or even neuronal processes in thebrain? This question just adopted immediate commercial, legal and politicalimportance following U.S. financial regulators' decision to allow a new networknode to intentionally introduce delays of microseconds. Though similar requestsare set to follow, there is still no scientific understanding available topolicymakers of the likely system-wide impact of such delays. Giving academicresearchers access to (so far prohibitively expensive) microsecond exchangedata would help rectify this situation. As a by-product, the lessons learnedwould deepen understanding of instabilities across myriad other networks, e.g.impact of millisecond delays on brain function and safety of driverless vehiclenavigation systems beyond human response times.