On a generic class of two-node queueing systems

This paper analyzes a generic class of two-node queueing systems. A first queue is fed by an on–off Markov fluid source; the input of a second queue is a function of the state of the Markov fluid source as well, but now also of the first queue being empty or not. This model covers the classical two-node tandem queue and the two-class priority queue as special cases. Relying predominantly on probabilistic argumentation, the steady-state buffer content of both queues is determined (in terms of its Laplace transform). Interpreting the buffer content of the second queue in terms of busy periods of the first queue, the (exact) tail asymptotics of the distribution of the second queue are found. Two regimes can be distinguished: a first in which the state of the first queue (that is, being empty or not) hardly plays a role, and a second in which it explicitly does. This dichotomy can be understood by using large-deviations heuristics

GPS queues with heterogeneous traffic classes

We consider a queue fed by a mixture of light-tailed and heavy-tailed traffic. The two traffic classes are served in accordance with the generalized processor sharing (GPS) discipline. GPS-based scheduling algorithms, such as weighted fair queueing (WFQ), have emerged as an important mechanism for achieving service differentiation in integrated networks. We derive the asymptotic workload behavior of the light-tailed class for the situation where its GPS weight is larger than its traffic intensity. The GPS mechanism ensures that the workload is bounded above by that in an isolated system with the light-tailed class served in isolation at a constant rate equal to its GPS weight. We show that the workload distribution is in fact asymptotically equivalent to that in the isolated system, multiplied with a certain pre-factor, which accounts for the interaction with the heavy-tailed class. Specifically, the pre-factor represents the probability that the heavy-tailed class is backlogged long enough for the light-tailed class to reach overflow. The results provide crucial qualitative insight in the typical overflow scenario

Extremes of Markov-additive processes with one-sided jumps, with queueing applications

Through Laplace transforms, we study the extremes of a continuous-time Markov-additive pro- cess with one-sided jumps and a finite-state background Markovian state-space, jointly with the epoch at which the extreme is \xe2\x80\x98attained\xe2\x80\x99. For this, we investigate discrete-time Markov-additive pro- cesses and use an embedding to relate these to the continuous-time setting. The resulting Laplace transforms are given in terms of two matrices, which can be determined either through solving a nonlinear matrix equation or through a spectral method. Our results on extremes are first applied to determine the steady-state buffer-content distribution of several single-station queueing systems. We show that our framework comprises many models dealt with earlier, but, importantly, it also enables us to derive various new results. At the same time, our setup offers interesting insights into the connections between the approaches developed so far, including matrix-analytic techniques, martingale methods, the rate-conservation approach, and the occupation-measure method. Then we turn to networks of fluid queues, and show how the results on single queues can be used to find the Laplace transform of the steady-state buffer-content vector; it has a matrix quasi-product form. Fluid-driven priority systems also have this property

On a generic class of two-node queueing systems

This paper analyzes a generic class of two-node queueing systems. A first queue is fed by an on-off Markov fluid source; the input of a second queue is a function of the state of the Markov fluid source as well, but now also of the first queue being empty or not. This model covers the classical two-node tandem queue and the two-class priority queue as special cases. Relying predominantly on probabilistic argumentation, the steady-state buffer content of both queues is determined (in terms of its Laplace transform). Interpreting the buffer content of the second queue in terms of busy periods of the first queue, the (exact) tail asymptotics of the distribution of the second queue are found. Two regimes can be distinguished: a first in which the state of the first queue (that is, being empty or not) hardly plays a role, and a second in which it explicitly does. This dichotomy can be understood by using large-deviations heuristics