Clearing Models for M/G/1 Queues

We consider M/G/1-type queueing systems with disasters, occurring at certain random times and causing an instantaneous removal of the entire residual workload from the system. After such a clearing, the system is assumed to be ready to start working again immediately. We consider clearings at deterministic equidistant times, at random times and at crossings of some prespecified level, and derive the stationary distribution of the workload process for these clearing times and some of their combinations.     

Busy Periods of Poisson Arrival Queues with Loss

We consider two queues with loss, one is the finite dam with Poisson arrivals and the other is the M/G/1 queue with impatient customers. We use the method of Kolmogorov's backward differential equation and construct a type of renewal equation to obtain the Laplace transform of busy(or wet) period in both queues. As a consequence, we provide the explicit forms of expected busy periods.     

The Remaining Service Time upon Reaching a High Level in M/G/1 Queues

The distribution of the remaining service time upon reaching some target level in an M/G/1 queue is of theoretical as well as practical interest. In general, this distribution depends on the initial level as well as on the target level, say, B. Two initial levels are of particular interest, namely, level 1 (i.e., upon arrival to an empty system) and level B–1 (i.e., upon departure at the target level).In this paper, we consider a busy cycle and show that the remaining service time distribution, upon reaching a high level B due to an arrival, converges to a limiting distribution for B. We determine this asymptotic distribution upon the first hit (i.e., starting with an arrival to an empty system) and upon subsequent hits (i.e., starting with a departure at the target) into a high target level B. The form of the limiting (asymptotic) distribution of the remaining service time depends on whether the system is stable or not. The asymptotic analysis in this paper also enables us to obtain good analytical approximations of interesting quantities associated with rare events, such as overflow probabilities.     

Robust Optimal Service Analysis of Single-Server Re-Entrant Queues

We generalize the analysis of J.A. Ball, M.V. Day, and P. Kachroo (Mathematics of Control, Signals, and Systems, vol. 12, pp. 307–345, 1999) to a fluid model of a single server re-entrant queue. The approach is to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation associated with optimal robust control of the system. The method of staged characteristics is generalized from Ball et al. (1999) to construct the solution explicitly. Formulas are developed allowing explicit calculations for the Skorokhod problem involved in the system equations. Such formulas are particularly important for numerical verification of conditions on the boundary of the nonnegative orthant. The optimal control (server) strategy is shown to be of linear-index type. Dai-type stability properties are discussed. A modification of the model in which new customers are allowed only at a specified entry queue is considered in 2 dimensions. The same optimal strategy is found in that case as well.     

A note on the optimality of the N- and D-policies for the M/G/1 queue

This note considers the N- and D-policies for the M/G/1 queue. We concentrate on the true relationship between the optimal N- and D-policies when the cost function is based on the expected number of customers in the system.     

On balking from an empty queue

The intuition while observing the economy of queueing systems, is that one’s motivation to join the system, decreases with its level of congestion. Here we present a queueing model where sometimes the opposite is the case. The point of departure is the standard first-come first-served single server queue with Poisson arrivals. Customers commence service immediately if upon their arrival the server is idle. Otherwise, they are informed if the queue is empty or not. Then, they have to decide whether to join or not. We assume that the customers are homogeneous and when they consider whether to join or not, they assess their queueing costs against their reward due to service completion. As the whereabouts of customers interact, we look for the (possibly mixed) join/do not join Nash equilibrium strategy, a strategy that if adopted by all, then under the resulting steady-state conditions, no one has any incentive not to follow it oneself. We show that when the queue is empty then depending on the service distribution, both ‘avoid the crowd’ (ATC) and ‘follow the crowd’ (FTC) scenarios (as well as none-of-the-above) are possible. When the queue is not empty, the situation is always that of ATC. Also, we show that under Nash equilibrium it is possible (depending on the service distribution) that the joining probability when the queue is empty is smaller than it is when the queue is not empty. This research was supported by The Israel Science Foundation Grant No. 237/02.     

TheM/G/1 queue with processor sharing and its relation to a feedback queue

The central model of this paper is anM/M/1 queue with a general probabilistic feedback mechanism. When a customer completes his ith service, he departs from the system with probability 1–p(i) and he cycles back with probabilityp(i). The mean service time of each customer is the same for each cycle. We determine the joint distribution of the successive sojourn times of a tagged customer at his loops through the system. Subsequently we let the mean service time at each loop shrink to zero and the feedback probabilities approach one in such a way that the mean total required service time remains constant. The behaviour of the feedback queue then approaches that of anM/G/1 processor sharing queue, different choices of the feedback probabilities leading to different service time distributions in the processor sharing model. This is exploited to analyse the sojourn time distribution in theM/G/1 queue with processor sharing.Some variants are also considered, viz., anM/M/1 feedback queue with additional customers who are always present, and anM/G/1 processor sharing queue with feedback.     

A Unified Approach to the Proportional Relation for Discrete-Time Single-Server Queues

It is well known that a simple relation called proportional relation holds for some queueing models, that is, the stationary queue length distribution of one system can be expressed as the product of a constant and the distribution of another system which is different only in the buffer capacity. Recently, the proportional relation has been verified for various discrete-time single-server queues with correlated arrivals, where it has been also shown that the proportional constant can be expressed in terms of the distribution of one system. This implies that the stationary queue length distribution of one system can be completely expressed in terms of the distribution of the other system. In this paper, we consider a generalized model of discrete-time single-server queue, which covers all previous ones, and give a simple and unified proof to the proportional relation as well as the expression of the proportional constant.     

The Virtual Waiting Time of the M/G/1 Queue with Impatient Customers

The M/G/1 queue with impatient customers is studied. The complete formula of the limiting distribution of the virtual waiting time is derived explicitly. The expected busy period of the queue is also obtained by using a martingale argument.     

Optimality of D-Policies for an M/G/1 Queue with a Removable Server

We consider an M/G/1 queue with a removable server. When a customer arrives, the workload becomes known. The cost structure consists of switching costs, running costs, and holding costs per unit time which is a nonnegative nondecreasing right-continuous function of a current workload in the system. We prove an old conjecture that D-policies are optimal for the average cost per unit time criterion. It means that for this criterion there is an optimal policy that either runs the server all the time or switches the server off when the system becomes empty and switches it on when the workload reaches or exceeds some threshold D.     

Consistency of infinitesimal perturbation analysis estimators with rates

We study a class of infinitesimal perturbation analysis (IPA) algorithms for queueing systems with load-dependent service and/or arrival rates. Such IPA algorithms were originally motivated by applications to large queueing systems in conjunction with aggregation algorithms. We prove strong consistency of these estimators through a type of birth and death queue. This work was supported in part by the NSF under Grants Nos. ECS85-15449 and CDR-8803012, by ONR under Contracts Nos. N00014-89-J-0075 and N00014-90-K-1093, and by the US Army under Contract No. DAAL-03-83-K-0171. This paper was written while the author was with the Division of Applied Sciences at Harvard University.     

Analysis of the M/M/1 Queue with Processor Sharing via Spectral Theory

We show in this paper that the computation of the distribution of the sojourn time of an arbitrary customer in a M/M/1 with the processor sharing discipline (abbreviated to M/M/1 PS queue) can be formulated as a spectral problem for a self-adjoint operator. This approach allows us to improve the existing results for this queue in two directions. First, the orthogonal structure underlying the M/M/1 PS queue is revealed. Second, an integral representation of the distribution of the sojourn time of a customer entering the system while there are n customers in service is obtained.     

Application of the Superposition of Renewal Processes to the Study of Batch Arrival Queues

The G /G/1-type batch arrival system is considered. We deal with non-steady-state characteristics of the system like the first busy period and the first idle time, the number of customers served on the first busy period. The study is based on a generalization of Korolyuk's method which he developed for semi-Markov random walks.     

Approximations for the delay probability in the M/G/s queue

This paper develops approximations for the delay probability in an M/G/s queue. For M/G/s queues, it has been well known that the delay probability in the M/M/s queue, i.e., the Erlang delay formula, is usually a good approximation for other service-time distributions. By using an excellent approximation for the mean waiting time in the M/G/s queue, we provide more accurate approximations of the delay probability for small values of s. To test the quality of our approximations, we compare them with the exact value and the Erlang delay formula for some particular cases.     

The M/G/1 Queue with Finite Workload Capacity

We consider the M/G/1 queueing system in which customers whose admission to the system would increase the workload beyond a prespecified finite capacity limit are not accepted. Various results on the distribution of the workload are derived; in particular, we give explicit formulas for its stationary distribution for M/M/1 and in the general case, under the preemptive LIFO discipline, for the joint stationary distribution of the number of customers in the system and their residual service times. Furthermore, the Laplace transform of the length of a busy period is determined. Finally, for M/D/1 the busy period distribution is derived in closed form.     

Asymptotic expansions for the conditional sojourn time distribution in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>/1-PS queue

We consider the M/M/1 queue with processor sharing. We study the conditional sojourn time distribution, conditioned on the customer’s service requirement, in various asymptotic limits. These include large time and/or large service request, and heavy traffic, where the arrival rate is only slightly less than the service rate. The asymptotic formulas relate to, and extend, some results of Morrison (SIAM J. Appl. Math. 45:152–167, [1985]) and Flatto (Ann. Appl. Probab. 7:382–409, [1997]). This work was partly supported by NSF grant DMS 05-03745.     

Analysis of M/G/1-Queues with Setup Times and Vacations under Six Different Service Disciplines

Single server M/G/1-queues with an infinite buffer are studied; these permit inclusion of server vacations and setup times. A service discipline determines the numbers of customers served in one cycle, that is, the time span between two vacation endings. Six service disciplines are investigated: the gated, limited, binomial, exhaustive, decrementing, and Bernoulli service disciplines. The performance of the system depends on three essential measures: the customer waiting time, the queue length, and the cycle duration. For each of the six service disciplines the distribution as well as the first and second moment of these three performance measures are computed. The results permit a detailed discussion of how the expected value of the performance measures depends on the arrival rate, the customer service time, the vacation time, and the setup time. Moreover, the six service disciplines are compared with respect to the first moments of the performance measures.     

Asymptotic Behavior of Loss Probability in GI/M/1/K Queue as K Tends to Infinity

We obtain an asymptotic behavior of the loss probability for the GI/M/1/K queue as K for cases of <1, >1 and =1.     

Analysis of customers’ impatience in queues with server vacations

Many models for customers impatience in queueing systems have been studied in the past; the source of impatience has always been taken to be either a long wait already experienced at a queue, or a long wait anticipated by a customer upon arrival. In this paper we consider systems with servers vacations where customers’ impatience is due to an absentee of servers upon arrival. Such a model, representing frequent behavior by waiting customers in service systems, has never been treated before in the literature. We present a comprehensive analysis of the single-server, M/M/1 and M/G/1 queues, as well as of the multi-server M/M/c queue, for both the multiple and the single-vacation cases, and obtain various closed-form results. In particular, we show that the proportion of customer abandonments under the single-vacation regime is smaller than that under the multiple-vacation discipline. This work was supported by the Euro-Ngi network of excellence.     

Performance Analysis with Truncated Heavy-Tailed Distributions

This paper deals with queues and insurance risk processes where a generic service time, resp. generic claim, has the form U ∧ K for some r.v. U with distribution B which is heavy-tailed, say Pareto or Weibull, and a typically large K, say much larger than . We study the compound Poisson ruin probability ψ(u) or, equivalently, the tail of the M/G/1 steady-state waiting time W. In the first part of the paper, we present numerical values of ψ(u) for different values of K by using the classical Siegmund algorithm as well as a more recent algorithm designed for heavy-tailed claims/service times, and compare the results to different approximations of ψ(u) in order to figure out the threshold between the light-tailed regime and the heavy-tailed regime. In the second part, we investigate the asymptotics as K → ∞ of the asymptotic exponential decay rate γ = γ ^(K) in a more general truncated Lévy process setting, and give a discussion of some of the implications for the approximations. AMS 2000 Subject Classification Primary 68M20, Secondary 60K25 †Partially supported by MaPhySto—A Network in Mathematical Physics and Stochastics, founded by the Danish National Research Foundation. An erratum to this article is available at .