Queuing Formulas PDF
Queuing Formulas PDF
Queuing Formulas PDF
Contents
1 Notation 2
3 Single-Server Queues 3
3.1 Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2 Some additional useful facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.3 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Multiple-Server Queues 5
Notes prepared by A. Gosavi, Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Mis-
souri S & T.
1
1 Notation
: mean rate of arrival. It is equal to 1/E[Inter-arrival-Time] where E[.] denotes the
expectation operator.
= / for single server queues: utilization of the server; also the probability that the
server is busy or the probability that someone is being served.
c: number of servers.
K: capacity of queue.
L = W ; Lq = Wq .
1
W = Wq + .
2
3 Single-Server Queues
The following notation is used for representing queues: A/B/c/K where A denotes the
distribution of the inter-arrival time, B that of the service time,c denotes the number of
servers, and K denotes the capacity of the queue. If K is omitted, we assume that K = .
M stands for Markov and is commonly used for the exponential distribution. Hence an
M/M/1 queue is one in which there is one server (and one channel) and both the inter-
arrival time and service time are exponentially distributed. An M/G/1 queue is one with
one server in which the inter-arrival time is exponentially distributed and the service time is
generally distributed, i.e., the service time has any given distribution. A G/G/1 queue is one
with one server in which both service and the inter-arrival time have any given distribution.
3.1 Formulas
2
Lq = .
1
2 s2 + 2
Lq =
2(1 )
The above is called the Pollazcek-Khintichine formula (named after its inventors and discov-
ered in the 1930s).
For the G/G/1 queue, we do not have an exact result. The following approximation (derived
by Marchal in 1976) is popular:
Notice that if the mean rate of arrival is , and a2 denotes the variance of the inter-arrival
time, then:
a2
Ca2 = .
(1/)2
Similarly, if denotes the service rate and s2 denotes the variance of the service time, then:
s2
Cs2 = .
(1/)2
3
3.2 Some additional useful facts
If the random variable X is uniformly distributed with parameters (a, b), where a is
the minimum value and b the maximum value, then the mean of X is (a + b)/2 and the
2
variance is (ba)
12
.
For the exponential distribution if the mean if 1/, the variance is 1/2 .
When a variable is deterministic, e.g., inter-arrival time is xed, its variance is zero
and hence so is its coecient of variation.
Consider two random variables, X and Y . Then if E[.] denotes the mean and V [.]
denotes the variance, then
V [X + Y ] = V [X] + V [Y ].
3.3 Examples
Example 1: Consider the following scenario: the inter-arrival time is exponentially dis-
tributed with a mean of 10 minutes and the service time is also exponentially distributed
with a mean of 8 means, nd the (i) mean wait in the queue, (ii) mean number in the queue,
(iii) the mean wait in the system, (iv) mean number in the system and (v) proportion of
time the server is idle.
We have an M/M/1 system. We also have: = 1/10; = 1/8. Hence, = 8/10. Then:
2 0.82
Number in the Queue = Lq = = = 3.2.
1 1 0.8
4
We have an M/G/1 system. We also have: = 1/10; the mean service time will be (7+9)/2 =
8, i.e., = 1/8. The variance of the service time, s2 will equal (9 7)2 /12 = 1/3. Also,
= 8/10. Then:
2 s2 + 2
Number in the Queue = Lq = = 1.608.
2(1 )
a2 s2
Ca2 = = 0.02; Cs
2
= = 1/192.
(1/)2 (1/)2
4 Multiple-Server Queues
We will only consider the identical server case. Let c denote the number of identical servers.
Here
=
c
5
For the M/M/c queue,
P0 ( )c
Lq =
c!(1 )2
where [ c1 ]
(c)m (c)c
P0 = 1/ + .
m=0 m! c!(1 )
Note that P0 denotes the probability that there are 0 customers in the system.
For the G/G/c queue, we have an approximation (Kingman, 1964)
Ca2 + Cs2
WqG/G/c WqM/M/c ,
2
where WqA/B/c denotes the waiting time in the queue for the A/B/c queue.