Queues where customers of one queue act as servers of the other queue

Efrat Perel, Uri Yechiali*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

We consider a system comprised of two connected M/M/•/• type queues, where customers of one queue act as servers for the other queue. One queue, Q 1, operates as a limited-buffer M/M/1/N-1 system. The other queue, Q 2, has an unlimited-buffer and receives service from the customers of Q 1. Such analytic models may represent applications like SETI@home, where idle computers of users are used to process data collected by space radio telescopes. Let L 1 denote the number of customers in Q 1. Then, two models are studied, distinguished by their service discipline in Q 2: In Model 1, Q 2 operates as an unlimited-buffer, single-server M/M/1/∞ queue with Poisson arrival rate λ 2 and dynamically changing service rate μ 2 L 1. In Model 2, Q 2 operates as a multi-server M/M/L 1/∞ queue with varying number of servers, L 1, each serving at a Poisson rate of μ 2. We analyze both models and derive the Probability Generating Functions of the system's steady-state probabilities. We then calculate the mean total number of customers present in each queue. Extreme cases are indicated.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)271-288
Number of pages18
JournalQueueing Systems
Volume60
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2008

Keywords

  • Connected 2-queue systems
  • Customers act as servers
  • Markovian queues

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