A queueing network analysis of a health center

This paper shows how a queueing network model helped to uncover the causes of delay in a health center appointment clinic. Patients, clerks, technicians, doctors and nurses agreed that the clerical registration area was the major bottleneck in the system. Our first reaction was to simulate the system with special attention on the complex registration procedure. Time constraints on data collection and program development led us to a queueing network model and QNA, a software tool for analyzing queueing networks developed by Whitt. The queueing analysis showed the registration area was not the bottleneck and we conjectured that delays were due to scheduling problems. A preliminary trial in the clinic of a modified appointment system showed promise with a 20 minute reduction in average time in the system (based on a small sample). Although there were significant differences between features of the real system and assumptions in the queueing network model, the queueing network model yielded insight into the operation of the appointment clinic.     

Stability analysis of a two-station cascade queueing network

We consider a two-station cascade network, where the first station has Poisson input and the second station has renewal input, with i.i.d. service times at both stations. The following partial interaction exists between stations: whenever the second station becomes empty while customers are awaiting service at the first one, one customer can jump to the second station to be served there immediately. However, the first station cannot assist the second one in the opposite case. For this system, we establish necessary and sufficient stability conditions of the basic workload process, using a regenerative method. An extension of the basic model, including a multiserver first station, a different service time distribution for customers jumping from station 1 to station 2, and an arbitrary threshold d ₁≥1 on the queue-size at station 1 allowing jumps to station 2, are also treated.     

Approximate analysis of arbitrary configurations of open queueing networks with blocking

An algorithm for analyzing approximately open exponential queueing networks with blocking is presented. The algorithm decomposes a queueing network with blocking into individual queues with revised capacity, and revised arrival and service processes. These individual queues are then analyzed in isolation. Numerical experience with this algorithm is reported for three-node and four-node queueing networks. The approximate results obtained were compared against exact numerical data, and they seem to have an acceptable error level.Supported in part by a grant from CAIP Center, Rutgers University.Supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant DCR-85-02540.     

Regeneration of a closed queueing network

Translated from Problemy Ustoichivosti Stokhasticheskikh Modelei, Trudy Seminara, pp. 61–69, 1990.     

Approximate mean value performance analysis of cyclic queueing networks with production blocking

A simple approximation method is developed for performance analysis of exponential cyclic queues with production blocking. With a modified Arrival Instant Theorem to cater for finite queue capacity, a set of equations involving the mean values of performance measures are established and an efficient algorithm is proposed. Numerical experiments show that the approximation method is very efficient in providing results with good accuracy.     

Analysis of a three node queueing network

The three node Jackson queueing network is the simplest acyclic network in which in equilibrium the sojourn times of a customer at each of the nodes are dependent. We show that assuming the individual sojourn times are independent provides a good approximation to the total sojourn time. This is done by simulating the network and showing that the sojourn times generally pass a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test as having come from the approximating distribution. Since the sum of dependent random variables may have the same distribution as the sum of independent random variables with the same marginal distributions, it is conceivable that our approximation is exact. However, we numerically compute upper and lower bounds for the distribution of the total sojourn time; these bounds are so close that the approximating distribution lies outside of the bounds. Thus, the bounds are accurate enough to distinguish between the two distributions even though the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test generally cannot.     

Asymptotic analysis of a large closed queueing network with discriminatory processor sharing

In this paper the steady-state behavior of a closed queueing network with multiple classes and large populations is investigated. One of the two nodes of the network simply introduces random delays and the discipline in the other node is discriminatory processor sharing. The network is not product-form, so not even the steady-state behavior is known. We assume that the usage is moderately heavy, and obtain two-term asymptotic approximations to the mean number of jobs, and the mean sojourn time, of each class of jobs in the processor node. We also obtain the leading term in the asymptotic approximation to the joint distribution of the number of jobs in the processor node, which is a zero-mean multivariate Gaussian distribution around a line through the origin.     

Dynamic fleet management as a logistics queueing network

This paper introduces a new framework for modeling and solving dynamic fleet management problems, which we call the Logistics Queueing Network (LQN). A variety of problems in logistics involve the combined problem of moving freight from origin to destination while simultaneously managing the capacity required to move this freight. Standard formulations for real-world problems usually lead to intractably large linear programs. The LQN approach can take into account more real-world detail and is considerably faster than classical LP formulations. The solutions generated using the LQN approach are shown to be within a few percentage points of the LP optimal solutions depending on the size of the capacity fleets.     

Stability and instability of routings through a queueing network

We consider a network of N nodes with given distances in which customers arrive at one of the nodes and request transportation to one of the other nodes. There is a finite number of servers (or transporters) with possibly different capacities and speed available. We show that there exists a critical arrival rate κ_c, such that if the arrival rate is larger than κ_c then the number of customers in the system increases to ∞ with linear speed no matter which routing strategy for the transporters is chosen (even if we allow the strategy to depend on the future arrival process). If, on the other hand, κ < _c then there exists even a fixed periodic routing strategy which keeps the system stable (in a sense to be made precise). We prefer to start with a deterministic set-up which allows very general arrival processes and look at the stochastic case only in the final section where we get more refined results by assuming that the arrival process has integrable stationary ergodic increments (which still allows batch arrivals and long-range dependence). Potential applications include the control of elevators in highrise buildings. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A queueing network with a single cyclically roving server

A queueingnetwork that is served by asingle server in a cyclic order is analyzed in this paper. Customers arrive at the queues from outside the network according to independent Poisson processes. Upon completion of his service, a customer mayleave the network, berouted to another queue in the network orrejoin the same queue for another portion of service. The single server moves through the different queues of the network in a cyclic manner. Whenever the server arrives at a queue (polls the queue), he serves the waiting customers in that queue according to some service discipline. Both the gated and the exhaustive disciplines are considered. When moving from one queue to the next queue, the server incurs a switch-over period. This queueing network model has many applications in communication, computer, robotics and manufacturing systems. Examples include token rings, single-processor multi-task systems and others. For this model, we derive the generating function and the expected number of customers present in the network queues at arbitrary epochs, and compute the expected values of the delays observed by the customers. In addition, we derive the expected delay of customers that follow a specific route in the network, and we introduce pseudo-conservation laws for this network of queues.Summary of notation B_i, B _i ^* (s) service time of a customer at queue i and its LST - b_i, b_i ⁽²⁾ mean and second moment of B_i - R_i, R _i ^* (s) duration of switch-over period from queue i and its LST - r_i, r_i mean and second moment of R_i - r, r⁽²⁾ mean and second moment of _i ^N =₁R_i - _i external arrival rate of type-i customers - _i total arrival rate into queue i - _i utilization of queue i; _i=_i - system utilization _i ^N =_1i - c=E[C] the expected cycle length - X _i ^j number of customers in queue j when queue i is polled - X_i=X _i ⁱ number of customers residing in queue i when it is polled - f_i(j) - X _i ^* number of customers residing in queue i at an arbitrary moment - Y_i the duration of a service period of queue i - W_i,T_i the waiting time and sojourn time of an arbitary customer at queue i - F^*(z₁, z₂,..., z_N) GF of number of customers present at the queues at arbitrary moments - F_i(z₁, z₂,..., z_N) GF of number of customers present at the queues at polling instants of queue i - ¯F_i(z₁, z₂,...,z_N) GF of number of customers present at the queues at switching instants of queue i - V_i(z₁, z₂,..., z_N) GF of number of customers present at the queues at service initiation instants at queue i - ¯V_i(z₁,z₂,...,z_N) GF of number of customers present at the queues at service completion instants at queue i The work of this author was supported by the Bernstein Fund for the Promotion of Research and by the Fund for the Promotion of Research at the Technion.Part of this work was done while H. Levy was with AT&T Bell Laboratories.     

Optimal control of a single server in a finite-population queueing network

We study the optimal dynamic assignment of a single server to multiple stations in a finite-population queueing network. The objective is to maximize the long-run average reward/throughput. We use sample-path comparisons to identify conditions on the network structure and service time distributions under which the optimal policy is an index policy. This index policy assigns the server to the non-empty station where it takes the shortest amount of time (in some stochastic sense) to complete a job. For example, in a network of multiple parallel stations, the optimal policy assigns the highest priority to the fastest station if service times can be ordered in likelihood ratios. Finally, by means of a numerical study, we test the shortest-expected-remaining-service-time policy on parallel-series networks with three stations and find that this index policy either coincides with the optimal policy or provides a near-optimal performance.     

Entropy maximisation and queueing network models

Over recent years it has become increasingly evident that classical queueing theory cannot easily handle complex queueing systems and networks with many interacting elements. As a consequence, alternative ideas and tools, analogous to those applied in the field of Statistical Mechanics, have been proposed in the literature. In this context, the principles of Maximum Entropy (ME) and Minimum Relative Entropy (MRE), a generalisation, provide consistent methods of inference for characterising the form of an unknown but true probability distribution, based on information expressed in terms of known to exist true expected values or when, in addition, there exists a prior estimate of the unknown distribution. This paper traces the progress achieved so far towards the creation of ME and MRE product-form approximations and related algorithms for the performance analysis of general Queueing Network Models (QNMs) and indicates potential research extensions in the area.Earlier research on entropy maximisation and QNMs was sponsored by the UK Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) with grant GR/D/12422, while recent and current work is supported by SERC grants GR/F/29271 and GR/H/18609. Research on Complex I/O subsystems was funded by Metron Technology Ltd., UK, under grant JJCA415.     

Optimizing flow rates in a queueing network with side constraints

In this paper, modified versions of the classical deterministic maximum flow and minimum cost network flow problems are presented in a stochastic queueing environment. In the maximum flow network model, the throughput rate in the network is maximized such that for each arc of the network the resulting probability of finding congestion along that arc in excess of a desirable threshold does not exceed an acceptable value. In the minimum cost network flow model, the minimum cost routing of a flow of given magnitude is determined under the same type of constraints on the arcs. After proper transformations, these models are solved by Ford and Fulkerson's labeling algorithm and out-of-kilter algorithm, respectively.     

Approximate queueing models for capacitated multi-stage inventory systems under base-stock control

A queueing analysis is presented for base-stock controlled multi-stage production-inventory systems with capacity constraints. The exact queueing model is approximated by replacing some state-dependent conditional probabilities (that are used to express the transition rates) by constants. Two recursive algorithms (each with several variants) are developed for analysis of the steady-state performance. It is analytically shown that one of these algorithms is equivalent to the existing approximations given in the literature. The system studied here is more general than the systems studied in the literature. The numerical investigation for three-stage systems shows that the proposed approximations work well to estimate the relevant performance measures.     

Queue length distributions in a markov model of a multistage clocked queueing network

In [4], we treated the problem of passage through a discrete-time clock-regulated multistage queueing network by modeling the input time series {a_n} to each queue as a Markov chain. We showed how to transform probability transition information from the input of one queue to the input of the next in order to predict mean queue length at each stage. The Markov approximation is very good for p = E(a_n) ≦ ½, which is in fact the range of practical utility. Here we carry out a Markov time series input analysis to predict the stage to stage change in the probability distribution of queue length. The main reason for estimating the queue length distribution at each stage is to locate “hot spots”, loci where unrestricted queue length would exceed queue capacity, and a quite simple expression is obtained for this purpose.     

Statistical analysis of queueing systems

This paper provides an overview of the literature on statistical analysis of queueing systems. Topics discussed include: model identification, estimation, hypothesis testing and other related aspects. Not all of these statistical problems are covered in books on queueing theory or stochastic processes. The bibliography is not exhaustive, but comprehensive enough to provide sources from the literature.     

A logistics problem: a non-markovian queueing network model and algorithm

In this paper, a stochastic version of the classical deterministic balanced single commodity capacitated transportation network problem is presented. In this model, each arc of the network connects a supply node to a demand node and the flow of units forming along each arc of the network forms a stochastic process (i.e.G/M/1 queueing system with generally distributed interarrival time, a Markovian server, a single server, infinite capacity, and the first come first served queueing discipline). In this model, the total transportation cost is minimized such that the total supply rate is equal to the total demand rate, and the resulting probability of finding excessive congestion along each arc (i.e., the resulting probability of finding congestion inside the queueing system formed along each arc in excess of a fixed number) is equal to a desirable value     

Busy period for the first subsystem in a matched queueing network

We formulate the busy period for the first subsystem in the matched queueing network PH/M/c→°PH/PH/1 as the first passage time of a Markov process and then present an approximate algorithm with uniform error for it. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the algorithm.     

Modelling complex assemblies as a queueing network for lead time control

In this paper we develop an open queueing network for optimal design of multi-stage assemblies, in which each service station represents a manufacturing or assembly operation. The arrival processes of the individual parts of the product are independent Poisson processes with equal rates. In each service station, there is a server with exponential distribution of processing time, in which the service rate is controllable. The transport times between the service stations are independent random variables with exponential distributions. By applying the longest path analysis in queueing networks, we obtain the distribution function of time spend by a product in the system or the manufacturing lead time. Then, we develop a multi-objective optimal control problem, in which the average lead time, the variance of the lead time and the total operating costs of the system per period are minimized. Finally, we use the goal attainment method to obtain the optimal service rates or the control vector of the problem.     

Stability analysis of queueing systems

This paper contains a survey of some results on the stability of queueing systems obtained by the authors by means of the method of trial functions (developed from Lyapunov's direct method). In addition, the paper contains a series of new results on the stability of regenerative processes. All the qualitative statements are accompanied by the construction of quantitative estimates.Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov Leningradskogo Otdeleniya Matematicheskogo Instituta im. V. A. Steklova AN SSSR, Vol. 87, pp. 41–61, 1979.