In the paper a probabilistic coupling between the M/G/1 processor sharing queue and the M/M/1 feedback queue, with general feedback probabilities, is established. This coupling is then used to prove the almost sure convergence of sojourn times in the feedback model to sojourn times in the M/G/1 processor sharing queue. Using the theory of regenerative processes it follows that for stable queues the stationary distribution of the sojourn time in the feedback model converges in law to the corresponding distribution in the processor sharing model. The results do not depend on Poisson arrival times, but are also valid for general arrival processes.

Queueing systems with non-exponential service distributions and a capacity restriction on the total residual service requirement (workload) are studied. Closed-form expressions of geometric form in the LCFS case and recursive representations in the FCFS case are obtained for the steady state workload distribution. The proof is of interest in itself and directly leads to extensions.

Complete repair and minimal repair models with a block maintenance policy are considered. Each of these models gives rise to a counting process, and these processes are compared stochastically. This contrasts with most previous work on maintenance policies where only univariate marginal comparisons were made. Also a more general block schedule is considered than is customary.

The problem of how to compare repairable systems has long been of interest to those who are engaged in reliability analysis. In this article we have introduced a type of comparison of two counting processes. Various properties and applications of our stochastic comparison are also studied.

We study a queueing system with a finite number of input sources. Jobs are individually generated by a source but wait to be served in batches, during which the input of that source is stopped. The service speed of a server depends on the mode of other sources and thus includes interdependencies. The input and service times are allowed to be generally distributed. A classical example is a machine repair system where the machines are subject to shocks causing cumulative damage. A product-form expression is obtained for the steady state joint queue length distribution and shown to be insensitive (i.e. to depend on only mean input and service times). The result is of both practical and theoretical interest as an extension of more standard batch service systems.

A relatively simple formula is presented for the probability distribution of the number K of components of a random function. This formula facilitates the (computer) calculation of the factorial moments of K and yields new expressions for the mean and variance of K.

We prove strong approximations for multiple channel queues in heavy traffic. Strong approximations are given for the waiting time and queue length processes, and for embedded sequences associated with the length process.

It is shown that among all work-conserving service disciplines that are independent of the future history, the first-come-first-served (FCFS) service discipline minimizes [maximizes] the average sojourn time in a G/GI/1 queueing system with new better [worse] than used in expectation (NBUE[NWUE]) service time distribution. We prove this result using a new basic identity of G/GI/1 queues that may be of independent interest. Using a relationship between the workload and the number of customers in the system with different lengths of attained service it is shown that the average sojourn time is minimized [maximized] by the least-attained-service time (LAST) service discipline when the service time has the decreasing [increasing] mean residual life (DMRL[IMRL]) property.

Let pk, k ≧ 0, be a probability distribution having finite binomial moments Br, r ≧ 0, and the probability generating function U(z) with a radius of convergence α (≧ 1). In this note explicit and recursive formulae are derived allowing computation of the pk in terms of the Br if α > 1. Ch. Jordan's formula, which holds if α > 2, turns out to be a special case.

By using a shot noise process, general results on system size in continuous time are given both in transient state and in steady state with discussion on some interesting results concerning special cases. System size before arrivals is also discussed.

A direct proof is presented for the fact that the stationary system queue length distribution just after the service completion epochs in the Mx/GI/1/k queue is given by the truncation of a measure on Z+ = {0, 1, ·· ·}. The related truncation formulas are well known for the case of the traffic intensity ρ < 1 and for the virtual waiting time process in M/GI/1 with a limited waiting time (Cohen (1982) and Takács (1974)). By the duality of GI/MY/1/k to Mx/GI/1/k + 1, we get a similar result for the system queue length distribution just before the arrival of a customer in GI/MY/1/k. We apply those results to prove that the loss probabilities of Mx/GI/1/k and GI/MY/1/k are increasing for the convex order of the service time and interarrival time distributions, respectively, if their means are fixed.

This paper continues the study (initiated in [2]) of the GI/G/K system in heavy traffic. We give a Berry–Esseen type theorem for the rate of convergence of the queue length.

Existing procedures for strategy evaluation based on earlier work by the author have led (inter alia) to procedures for the assessment of heuristics for stochastic scheduling and to the development of an approach to sensitivity analysis. Recent theoretical work has now led to the development of more effective evaluation procedures. The key results are reported here.

We consider an M/M/2 queueing system with removable service stations operating under steady-state conditions. We assume that the number of operating service stations can be adjusted at customers' arrival or service completion epochs depending on the number of customers in the system. The objective of this paper is to obtain the distribution of the busy period using the theory of the gambler's ruin problem. As special cases, the distributions of the busy periods for the ordinary M/M/2 queueing system, the M/M/1 queueing system operating under the N policy and the ordinary M/M/1 queueing system are obtained.

Assigning each arriving customer to the fastest idle server is shown to maximize throughput (equivalently, minimize blocking probability) in a queueing model with Poisson arrivals, heterogeneous exponential servers, and no waiting room. If a cost structure is imposed on this model, under specified conditions the same policy minimizes the expected discounted cost and the long-run average cost per unit time.

In this paper we derive a new property of the exponential distribution, closely related to a single-server queueing system with unreliable server. We show that this new property is another characterization of the exponential law.