The MAP/(PH/PH)/1 queue with self-generation of priorities and non-preemptive service

Customers arriving according to a Markovian arrival process are served at a single server facility. Waiting customers generate priority at a constant rate γ$\gamma$; such a customer waits in a waiting space of capacity 1 if this waiting space is not already occupied by a priority generated customer; else it leaves the system. A customer in service will be completely served before the priority generated customer is taken for service (non-preemptive service discipline). Only one priority generated customer can wait at a time and a customer generating into priority at that time will have to leave the system in search of emergency service elsewhere. The service times of ordinary and priority generated customers follow PH-distributions. The matrix analytic method is used to compute the steady state distribution. Performance measures such as the probability of n consecutive services of priority generated customers, the probability of the same for ordinary customers, and the mean waiting time of a tagged customer are found by approximating them by their corresponding values in a truncated system. All these results are supported numerically.     

A decomposition theorem and related results for the discriminatory processor sharing queue

In this paper, we study a discriminatory processor sharing queue with Poisson arrivals,K classes and general service times. For this queue, we prove a decomposition theorem for the conditional sojourn time of a tagged customer given the service times and class affiliations of the customers present in the system when the tagged customer arrives. We show that this conditional sojourn time can be decomposed inton+1 components if there aren customers present when the tagged customer arrives. Further, we show that thesen+1 components can be obtained as a solution of a system of non-linear integral equations. These results generalize known results about theM/G/1 egalitarian processor sharing queue.     

On optimal right-of-way policies at a single-server station when insertion of idle times is permitted

A general stream of n types of customers arrives at a Single Server station where service is non-preemptive, the server may undergo Poisson breakdowns and insertion of idle times is allowed. If ξ(k) and c(k) are, respectively, the expected service time and sojourn cost per unit time of a type k customer (1?k?n), call k “V.I.P.” type if ξ(k)/c(k) = min_1?i?n[ξ(i)/sbc(i)].We show that any right-of-way service policy can be improved by a policy that grants V.I.P. customers priority over all others, and never inserts idle time when a V.I.P. customer is present.We further show that if the arrival stream is Poisson, the so-called “cμ” priority rule (applied with no delays) is optimal in the class of all service policies, and not just among those of a priority nature.     

Performance Analysis of the GI/M/1 Queue with Single Working Vacation and Vacations

In this paper, we consider a new class of the GI/M/1 queue with single working vacation and vacations. When the system become empty at the end of each regular service period, the server first enters a working vacation during which the server continues to serve the possible arriving customers with a slower rate, after that, the server may resume to the regular service rate if there are customers left in the system, or enter a vacation during which the server stops the service completely if the system is empty. Using matrix geometric solution method, we derive the stationary distribution of the system size at arrival epochs. The stochastic decompositions of system size and conditional system size given that the server is in the regular service period are also obtained. Moreover, using the method of semi-Markov process (SMP), we gain the stationary distribution of system size at arbitrary epochs. We acquire the waiting time and sojourn time of an arbitrary customer by the first-passage time analysis. Furthermore, we analyze the busy period by the theory of limiting theorem of alternative renewal process. Finally, some numerical results are presented.     

Pull-based load distribution among heterogeneous parallel servers: the case of multiple routers

The model is a service system, consisting of several large server pools. A server’s processing speed and buffer size (which may be finite or infinite) depend on the pool. The input flow of customers is split equally among a fixed number of routers, which must assign customers to the servers immediately upon arrival. We consider an asymptotic regime in which the total customer arrival rate and pool sizes scale to infinity simultaneously, in proportion to a scaling parameter n, while the number of routers remains fixed. We define and study a multi-router generalization of the pull-based customer assignment (routing) algorithm PULL, introduced in Stolyar (Queueing Syst 80(4): 341–361, 2015) for the single-router model. Under the PULL algorithm, when a server becomes idle it sends a “pull-message” to a randomly uniformly selected router; each router operates independently—it assigns an arriving customer to a server according to a randomly uniformly chosen available (at this router) pull-message, if there is any, or to a randomly uniformly selected server in the entire system otherwise. Under Markov assumptions (Poisson arrival process and independent exponentially distributed service requirements), and under subcritical system load, we prove asymptotic optimality of PULL: as \(n\rightarrow \infty \), the steady-state probability of an arriving customer experiencing blocking or waiting vanishes. Furthermore, PULL has an extremely low router–server message exchange rate of one message per customer. These results generalize some of the single-router results in Stolyar (2015).     

A stochastic model for a vehicle in a dial-a-ride system

We consider a stochastic model for a system which can serve n customers concurrently, and each accepted and departing customer generates a service interruption. The proposed model describes a single vehicle in a dial-a-ride transport system and is closely related to Erlang’s loss system. We give closed-form expressions for the blocking probability, the acceptance rate, and the mean sojourn time, which are all shown to be insensitive with respect to the forms of the distributions defining the workload and interruption durations.     

Optimal balking strategies and pricing for the single server Markovian queue with compartmented waiting space

We consider the single server Markovian queue and we assume that arriving customers decide whether to enter the system or balk based on a natural reward-cost structure, which incorporates their desire for service as well as their unwillingness to wait. We suppose that the waiting space of the system is partitioned in compartments of fixed capacity for a customers. Before making his decision, a customer may or may not know the compartment in which he will enter and/or the position within the compartment in which he will enter. Thus, denoting by n the number of customers found by an arriving customer, he may or may not know ? n/a ?+1 and/or (n mod a)+1. We examine customers’ behavior under the various levels of information regarding the system state and we identify equilibrium threshold strategies. We also study the corresponding social and profit maximization problems.     

Approximation of M/M/s/K retrial queue with nonpersistent customers

We consider the M/M/s/K retrial queues in which a customer who is blocked to enter the service facility may leave the system with a probability that depends on the number of attempts of the customer to enter the service facility. Approximation formulae for the distributions of the number of customers in service facility, waiting time in the system and the number of retrials made by a customer during its waiting time are derived. Approximation results are compared with the simulation.     

Analysis of the adaptive MMAP[K]/PH[K]/1 queue: A multi-type queue with adaptive arrivals and general impatience

In this paper we introduce the adaptive MMAP[K] arrival process and analyze the adaptive MMAP[K]/PH[K]/1 queue. In such a queueing system, customers of K different types with Markovian inter-arrival times and possibly correlated customer types, are fed to a single server queue that makes use of r thresholds. Service times are phase-type and depend on the type of customer in service. Type k customers are accepted with some probability a_i,k if the current workload is between threshold i − 1 and i. The manner in which the arrival process changes its state after generating a type k customer also depends on whether the customer is accepted or rejected.     

Analysis of MAP/PH1,PH2/1 queue with vacations and optional secondary services

In this paper we study a queueing model in which the customers arrive according to a Markovian arrival process (MAP). There is a single server who offers services on a first-come-first-served basis. With a certain probability a customer may require an optional secondary service. The secondary service is provided by the same server either immediately (if no one is waiting to receive service in the first stage) or waits until the number waiting for such services hits a pre-determined threshold. The model is studied as a QBD-process using matrix-analytic methods and some illustrative examples are discussed.     

The GI/M/1 queue with start-up period and single working vacation and Bernoulli vacation interruption

Consider a GI/M/1 queue with start-up period and single working vacation. When the system is in a closed state, an arriving customer leading to a start-up period, after the start-up period, the system becomes a normal service state. And during the working vacation period, if there are customers at a service completion instant, the vacation can be interrupted and the server will come back to the normal working level with probability p (0 ? p ? 1) or continue the vacation with probability 1 − p. Meanwhile, if there is no customer when a vacation ends, the system is closed. Using the matrix-analytic method, we obtain the steady-state distributions for the queue length at both arrival epochs and arbitrary epochs, the waiting time and sojourn time.     

Optimal utilization of service facility for ak-out-of-n system with repair by extending service to external customers in a retrial queue

In this paper, we study ak-out-of-n system with single server who provides service to external customers also. The system consists of two parts: (i) a main queue consisting of customers (failed components of thek-out-of-n system) and (ii) a pool (of finite capacityM) of external customers together with an orbit for external customers who find the pool full. An external customer who finds the pool full on arrival, joins the orbit with probability γ and with probability 1- γ leaves the system forever. An orbital customer, who finds the pool full, at an epoch of repeated attempt, returns to orbit with probability δ (< 1) and with probability 1- δ leaves the system forever. We compute the steady state system size probability. Several performance measures are computed, numerical illustrations are provided.     

An improved algorithm for the computation of the optimal repair/replacement policy under general repairs

We consider a system which deteriorates with age and may experience a failure at any time instant. On failure, the system may be replaced or repaired. The repair can partially reset the failure intensity of the unit. Under a suitable cost structure it has been proved in the literature that the average-cost optimal policy is of control-limit type, i.e. it conducts a replacement if and only if, on the nth failure, the real age of the system is greater than or equal to a critical value. We develop an efficient special-purpose policy iteration algorithm that generates a sequence of improving control-limit policies. The value determination step of the algorithm is based on the embedding technique. There is strong numerical evidence that the algorithm converges to the optimal policy.     

A BMAP/SM/1 queue with service times depending on the arrival process

We study a BMAP/>SM/1 queue with batch Markov arrival process input and semi‐Markov service. Service times may depend on arrival phase states, that is, there are many types of arrivals which have different service time distributions. The service process is a heterogeneous Markov renewal process, and so our model necessarily includes known models. At first, we consider the first passage time from level {κ+1} (the set of the states that the number of customers in the system is κ+1) to level {κ} when a batch arrival occurs at time 0 and then a customer service included in that batch simultaneously starts. The service descipline is considered as a LIFO (Last‐In First‐Out) with preemption. This discipline has the fundamental role for the analysis of the first passage time. Using this first passage time distribution, the busy period length distribution can be obtained. The busy period remains unaltered in any service disciplines if they are work‐conserving. Next, we analyze the stationary workload distribution (the stationary virtual waiting time distribution). The workload as well as the busy period remain unaltered in any service disciplines if they are work‐conserving. Based on this fact, we derive the Laplace–Stieltjes transform for the stationary distribution of the actual waiting time under a FIFO discipline. In addition, we refer to the Laplace–Stieltjes transforms for the distributions of the actual waiting times of the individual types of customers. Using the relationship between the stationary waiting time distribution and the stationary distribution of the number of customers in the system at departure epochs, we derive the generating function for the stationary joint distribution of the numbers of different types of customers at departures. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Diffusion Approximation for a GI/GI/1 Queue with Balking or Reneging

Consider a single-server queue with a renewal arrival process and generally distributed processing times in which each customer independently reneges if service has not begun within a generally distributed amount of time. We establish that both the workload and queue-length processes in this system can be approximated by a regulated Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (ROU) process when the arrival rate is close to the processing rate and reneging times are large. We further show that a ROU process also approximates the queue-length process, under the same parameter assumptions, in a balking model. Our balking model assumes the queue-length is observable to arriving customers, and that each customer balks if his or her conditional expected waiting time is too large.     

Analysis of GI<Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis></Superscript>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>)//<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis> systems with stochastic customer acceptance policy

We investigate GI ^X /M(n)//N systems with stochastic customer acceptance policy, function of the customer batch size and the number of customers in the system at its arrival. We address the time-dependent and long-run analysis of the number of customers in the system at prearrivals and postarrivals of batches and seen by customers at their arrival to the system, as well as customer blocking probabilities. These results are then used to derive the continuous-time long-run distribution of the number of customers in the system. Our analysis combines Markov chain embedding with uniformization and uses stochastic ordering as a way to bound the errors of the computed performance measures.      

Geo/Geo/1 retrial queue with non-persistent customers and working vacations

In this paper, we consider a Geo/Geo/1 retrial queue with non-persistent customers and working vacations. The server works at a lower service rate in a working vacation period. Assume that the customers waiting in the orbit request for service with a constant retrial rate, if the arriving retrial customer finds the server busy, the customer will go back to the orbit with probability q (0≤q≤1), or depart from the system immediately with probability $\bar{q}=1-q$ . Based on the necessary and sufficient condition for the system to be stable, we develop the recursive formulae for the stationary distribution by using matrix-geometric solution method. Furthermore, some performance measures of the system are calculated and an average cost function is also given. We finally illustrate the effect of the parameters on the performance measures by some numerical examples.     

Class clustering destroys delay differentiation in priority queues

This paper considers a discrete-time priority queueing model with one server and two types (classes) of customers. Class-1 customers have absolute (service) priority over class-2 customers. New customer batches enter the system at the rate of one batch per slot, according to a general independent arrival process, i.e., the batch sizes (total numbers of arrivals) during consecutive time slots are i.i.d. random variables with arbitrary distribution. All customers entering the system during the same time slot (i.e., belonging to the same arrival batch) are of the same type, but customer types may change from slot to slot, i.e., from batch to batch. Specifically, the types of consecutive customer batches are correlated in a Markovian way, i.e., the probability that any batch of customers has type 1 or 2, respectively, depends on the type of the previous customer batch that has entered the system. Such an arrival model allows to vary not only the relative loads of both customer types in the arrival stream, but also the amount of correlation between the types of consecutive arrival batches. The results reveal that the amount of delay differentiation between the two customer classes that can be achieved by the priority mechanism strongly depends on the amount of such interclass correlation (or, class clustering) in the arrival stream. We believe that this phenomenon has been largely overlooked in the priority-scheduling literature.     

Infinite Server Queues with Synchronized Departures Driven by a Single Point Process

We analyze an infinite-server queueing model with synchronized arrivals and departures driven by the point process {T _n } according to the following rules. At time T _n , a single customer (or a batch of size β _n ) arrives to the system. The service requirement of the ith customer in the nth batch is σ _i,n . All customers enter service immediately upon arrival but each customer leaves the system at the first epoch of the point process {T _n } which occurs after his service requirement has been satisfied. For this system the queue length process and the statistics of the departing batches of customers are investigated under various assumptions for the statistics of the point process {T _n }, the incoming batch sequence {β _n }, and the service sequence {σ _i,n }. Results for the asymptotic distribution of the departing batches when the service times are long compared to the interarrival times are also derived.     

The shorter queue problem: A numerical study using the matrix-geometric solution

We consider a service system with two similar servers in which a customer, on arrival, joins the shorter queue. The state of the system is described by a pair (i,j), j?i, where i and j are the number of customers in the shorter and the longer queue, respectively. The stationary probability vector and several performance characteristics are obtained using the matrix-geometric solution technique.