Diffusion Approximation in Overloaded Switching Queueing Models

The asymptotic behavior of a queueing process in overloaded state-dependent queueing models (systems and networks) of a switching structure is investigated. A new approach to study fluid and diffusion approximation type theorems (without reflection) in transient and quasi-stationary regimes is suggested. The approach is based on functional limit theorems of averaging principle and diffusion approximation types for so-called Switching processes. Some classes of state-dependent Markov and non-Markov overloaded queueing systems and networks with different types of calls, batch arrival and service, unreliable servers, networks (M _SM,Q /M _SM,Q /1/) ^r switched by a semi-Markov environment and state-dependent polling systems are considered.     

Statistical Analysis of Single-server Loss Queueing Systems

In this article statistical bounds for certain output characteristics of the M/GI/1/n and GI/M/1/n loss queueing systems are derived on the basis of large samples of an input characteristic of these systems, such as service time in the M/GI/1/n queueing system or interarrival time in the GI/M/1/n queueing system. The analysis in this article is based on application of Kolmogorov’s statistics for empirical probability distribution functions.     

A paired queueing system arising in multimedia synchronization

One of the most important and distinguishing features of multimedia applications is the integration of multiple media streams that have to be presented in a synchronized fashion. In this paper, a queueing system with a special service mechanism arising in multimedia synchronization is considered. The system is characterized by arrival of two types of customers (media streams), and servicing of customers (processing of packets) in pairs with one customer from each type for a pair. The exact transient system size probabilities are obtained as the stationary solutions do not exist for this system and these are illustrated numerically. The density function of the first return to the origin for the queueing system is also obtained.     

Performance analysis approximation in a queueing system of type M/G/1

In this work, we apply the strong stability method to obtain an estimate for the proximity of the performance measures in the M/G/1 queueing system to the same performance measures in the M/M/1 system under the assumption that the distributions of the service time are close and the arrival flows coincide. In addition to the proof of the stability fact for the perturbed M/M/1 queueing system, we obtain the inequalities of the stability. These results give with precision the error, on the queue size stationary distribution, due to the approximation. For this, we elaborate from the obtained theoretical results, the STR-STAB algorithm which we execute for a determined queueing system: M/Coxian − 2/1. The accuracy of the approach is evaluated by comparison with simulation results.     

An approximation analysis for an assembly-like queueing system with time-constraint items

We study an assembly-like queueing system one of whose queues has items with generally distributed time-constraints, where this system has a single server providing services using each item individually. It is well-known that analysis of a queueing system which has items with time-constraint (i.e., impatient items) is difficult since the analytical model must involve all the departure times of these impatient items. We therefore propose to employ the techniques of Whitt’s approximation and show the method for obtaining the stationary distribution of the model. Through some simulation experiments, we discuss the validation of our approximation model, and show that the approximation is accurate in various kinds of situations (e.g., service time distribution and the number of queues).     

An approximate analysis of a cyclic server queue with limited service and reservations

In this paper, we examine a queueing problem motivated by the pipeline polling protocol in satellite communications. The model is an extension of the cyclic queueing system withM-limited service. In this service mechanism, each queue, after receiving service on cyclej, makes a reservation for its service requirement in cyclej + 1. The main contribution to queueing theory is that we propose an approximation for the queue length and sojourn-time distributions for this discipline. Most approximate studies on cyclic queues, which have been considered before, examine the means only. Our method is an iterative one, which we prove to be convergent by using stochastic dominance arguments. We examine the performance of our algorithm by comparing it to simulations and show that the results are very good.     

Analyzing retrial queues by censoring

In this paper we analyze the M/M/c retrial queue using the censoring technique. This technique allows us to carry out an asymptotic analysis, which leads to interesting and useful asymptotic results. Based on the asymptotic analysis, we develop two methods for obtaining approximations to the stationary probabilities, from which other performance metrics can be obtained. We demonstrate that the two proposed approximations are good alternatives to existing approximation methods. We expect that the technique used here can be applied to other retrial queueing models.     

Tandem behavior of a telecommunication system with finite buffers and repeated calls

The tandem behavior of a telecommunication system with finite buffers and repeated calls is modeled by the performance of a finite capacityG/M/1 queueing system with general interarrival time distribution, exponentially distributed service time, the first-come-first-served queueing discipline and retrials. In this system a fraction of the units which on arrival at a node of the system find it busy, may retry to be processed, by merging with the incoming arrival units in that node, after a fixed delay time. The performance of this system in steady state is modeled by a queueing network and is approximated by a recursive algorithm based on the isolation method. The approximation outcomes are compared against those from a simulation study. Our numerical results indicate that in steady state the non-renewal superposition arrival process, the non-renewal overflow process, and the non-renewal departure process of the above system can be approximated with compatible renewal processes.     

Sojourn Times in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">PH</Emphasis>/1 Processor Sharing Queue

We give in this paper an algorithm to compute the sojourn time distribution in the processor sharing, single server queue with Poisson arrivals and phase type distributed service times. In a first step, we establish the differential system governing the conditional sojourn times probability distributions in this queue, given the number of customers in the different phases of the PH distribution at the arrival instant of a customer. This differential system is then solved by using a uniformization procedure and an exponential of matrix. The proposed algorithm precisely consists of computing this exponential with a controlled accuracy. This algorithm is then used in practical cases to investigate the impact of the variability of service times on sojourn times and the validity of the so-called reduced service rate (RSR) approximation, when service times in the different phases are highly dissymmetrical. For two-stage PH distributions, we give conjectures on the limiting behavior in terms of an M/M/1 PS queue and provide numerical illustrative examples.This revised version was published online in June 2005 with corrected coverdate     

On the inapproximability of <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis>: why two moments of job size distribution are not enough

The M/G/K queueing system is one of the oldest models for multiserver systems and has been the topic of performance papers for almost half a century. However, even now, only coarse approximations exist for its mean waiting time. All the closed-form (nonnumerical) approximations in the literature are based on (at most) the first two moments of the job size distribution. In this paper we prove that no approximation based on only the first two moments can be accurate for all job size distributions, and we provide a lower bound on the inapproximability ratio, which we refer to as “the gap.” This is the first such result in the literature to address “the gap.” The proof technique behind this result is novel as well and combines mean value analysis, sample path techniques, scheduling, regenerative arguments, and asymptotic estimates. Finally, our work provides insight into the effect of higher moments of the job size distribution on the mean waiting time.     

Asymptotic analysis of the behavior of a multichannel queueing system functioning in a Markov medium

The asymptotic behavior of some multidimensional characteristics of two Markov queueing systems, in which an incoming flow of units and their service time depend on a small parameter ɛ and the state of the Markov medium where these queueing systems function, is investigated. Bibliography: 6 titles. Translated fromObchyslyuval’na ta Prykladna Matematyka, No. 76, 1992, pp. 91–98.     

A NEW APPROACH FOR THE STUDY OF THE M X /G/1 QUEUE USING RENEWAL ARGUMENTS

The M ^X /G/1 queueing system as well as several of its variants have long ago been studied by considering the embedded discrete-time Markov chain at service completion epochs. Alternatively other approaches have been proposed such as the theory of regenerative processes, the supplementary variable method, properties of the busy period, etc. In this note we study the M ^X /G/1 queue via a simple new method that uses renewal arguments. This approach seems quite powerful and may become fruitful in the investigation of other queueing systems as well.     

Peak congestion in multi-server service systems with slowly varying arrival rates

In this paper we consider the M _t queueing model with infinitely many servers and a nonhomogeneous Poisson arrival process. Our goal is to obtain useful insights and formulas for nonstationary finite-server systems that commonly arise in practice. Here we are primarily concerned with the peak congestion. For the infinite-server model, we focus on the maximum value of the mean number of busy servers and the time lag between when this maximum occurs and the time that the maximum arrival rate occurs. We describe the asymptotic behavior of these quantities as the arrival changes more slowly, obtaining refinements of previous simple approximations. In addition to providing improved approximations, these refinements indicate when the simple approximations should perform well. We obtain an approximate time-dependent distribution for the number of customers in service in associated finite-server models by using the modified-offered-load (MOL) approximation, which is the finite-server steady-state distribution with the infinite-server mean serving as the offered load. We compare the value and lag in peak congestion predicted by the MOL approximation with exact values for M _t/M/s delay models with sinusoidal arrival-rate functions obtained by numerically solving the Chapman–Kolmogorov forward equations. The MOL approximation is remarkably accurate when the delay probability is suitably small. To treat systems with slowly varying arrival rates, we suggest focusing on the form of the arrival-rate function near its peak, in particular, on its second and third derivatives at the peak. We suggest estimating these derivatives from data by fitting a quadratic or cubic polynomial in a suitable interval about the peak. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assembly-like queues with finite capacity: Bounds,asymptotics and approximations

In this paper we study a queueing model of assembly-like manufacturing operations. This study was motivated by an examination of a circuit pack testing procedure in an AT & T factory. However, the model may be representative of many manufacturing assembly operations. We assume that customers fromn classes arrive according to independent Poisson processes with the same arrival rate into a single-server queueing station where the service times are exponentially distributed. The service discipline requires that service be rendered simultaneously to a group of customers consisting of exactly one member from each class. The server is idle if there are not enough customers to form a group. There is a separate waiting area for customers belonging to the same class and the size of the waiting area is the same for all classes. Customers who arrive to find the waiting area for their class full, are lost. Performance measures of interest include blocking probability, throughput, mean queue length and mean sojourn time. Since the state space for this queueing system could be large, exact answers for even reasonable values of the parameters may not be easy to obtain. We have therefore focused on two approaches. First, we find upper and lower bounds for the mean sojourn time. From these bounds we obtain the asymptotic solutions as the arrival rate (waiting room, service rate) approaches zero (infinity). Second, for moderate values of these parameters we suggest an approximate solution method. We compare the results of our approximation against simulation results and report good correspondence.     

An approximate analysis for a class of assembly-like queues

Assembly-like queues model assembly operations where separate input processes deliver different types of component (customer) and the service station assembles (serves) these input requests only when the correct mix of components (customers) is present at the input. In this work, we develop an effective approximate analytical solution for an assembly-like queueing system withN(N 2) classes of customers formingN independent Poisson arrival streams with rates {_i=1,...,N} The arrival of a class of customers is turned off whenever the number of customers of that class in the system exceeds the number for any of the other classes by a certain amount. The approximation is based on the decomposition of the originalN input stream stage into a cascade ofN-1 two-input stream stages. This allows one to refer to the theory of paired customer systems as a foundation of the analysis, and makes the problem computationally tractable. Performance measures such as server utilization, throughput, average delays, etc., can then be easily computed. For illustrative purposes, the theory and techniques presented are applied to the approximate analysis of a system withN = 3. Numerical examples show that the approximation is very accurate over a wide range of parameters of interest.     

Asymptotic Results and a Markovian Approximation for the M(n)/M(n)/s+GI System

In this paper for the M(n)/M(n)/s+GI system, i.e. for a s-server queueing system where the calls in the queue may leave the system due to impatience, we present new asymptotic results for the intensities of calls leaving the system due to impatience and a Markovian system approximation where these results are applied. Furthermore, we present a new proof for the formulae of the conditional density of the virtual waiting time distributions, recently given by Movaghar for the less general M(n)/M/s+GI system. Also we obtain new explicit expressions for refined virtual waiting time characteristics as a byproduct.     

Laplace Transform and Moments of Waiting Times in Poisson Driven (max,+) Linear Systems

(Max,+) linear systems can be used to represent stochastic Petri nets belonging to the class of event graphs. This class contains various instances of queueing networks like acyclic or cyclic fork-and-join queueing networks, finite or infinite capacity tandem queueing networks with various types of blocking, synchronized queueing networks and so on. It also contains some basic manufacturing models such as kanban networks, assembly systems and so forth.In their 1997 paper, Baccelli, Hasenfuss and Schmidt provide explicit expressions for the expected value of the waiting time of the nth customer in a given subarea of a (max,+) linear system. Using similar analysis, we present explicit expressions for the moments and the Laplace transform of transient waiting times in Poisson driven (max,+) linear systems. Furthermore, starting with these closed form expressions, we also derive explicit expressions for the moments and the Laplace transform of stationary waiting times in a class of (max,+) linear systems with deterministic service times. Examples pertaining to queueing theory are given to illustrate the results.     

Queues with hysteretic control by vacation and post-vacation periods

The paper investigates the queueing process in stochastic systems with bulk input, batch state dependent service, server vacations, and three post-vacation disciplines. The policy of leaving and entering busy periods is hysteretic, meaning that, initially, the server leaves the system on multiple vacation trips whenever the queue falls below r (⩾1), and resumes service when during his absence the system replenishes to N or more customers upon one of his returns. During his vacation trips, the server can be called off on emergency, limiting his trips by a specified random variable (thereby encompassing several classes of vacation queues, such as ones with multiple and single vacations). If by then the queue has not reached another fixed threshold M (⩽ N), the server enters a so-called “post-vacation period” characterized by three different disciplines: waiting, or leaving on multiple vacation trips with or without emergency. For all three disciplines, the probability generating functions of the discrete and continuous time parameter queueing processes in the steady state are obtained in a closed analytic form. The author uses a semi-regenerative approach and enhances fluctuation techniques (from his previous studies) preceding the analysis of queueing systems. Various examples demonstrate and discuss the results obtained. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Some Results for Large Closed Queueing Networks with and without Bottleneck: Up- and Down-Crossings Approach

The paper provides the up- and down-crossing method to study the asymptotic behavior of queue-length and waiting time in closed Jackson-type queueing networks. These queueing networks consist of central node (hub) and k single-server satellite stations. The case of infinite server hub with exponentially distributed service times is considered in the first section to demonstrate the up- and down-crossing approach to such kind of problems and help to understand the readers the main idea of the method. The main results of the paper are related to the case of single-server hub with generally distributed service times depending on queue-length. Assuming that the first k–1 satellite nodes operate in light usage regime, we consider three cases concerning the kth satellite node. They are the light usage regime and limiting cases for the moderate usage regime and heavy usage regime. The results related to light usage regime show that, as the number of customers in network increases to infinity, the network is decomposed to independent single-server queueing systems. In the limiting cases of moderate usage regime, the diffusion approximations of queue-length and waiting time processes are obtained. In the case of heavy usage regime it is shown that the joint limiting non-stationary queue-lengths distribution at the first k–1 satellite nodes is represented in the product form and coincides with the product of stationary GI/M/1 queue-length distributions with parameters depending on time.