Provable bounds for the mean queue lengths in a heterogeneous priority queue

We analyze a two-class two-server system with nonpreemptive heterogeneous priority structures. We use matrix–geometric techniques to determine the stationary queue length distributions. Numerical solution of the matrix–geometric model requires that the number of phases be truncated and it is shown how this affects the accuracy of the results. We then establish and prove upper and lower bounds for the mean queue lengths under the assumption that the classes have equal mean service times. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.