Addressing performance requirements in the FDT-based design of distributed systems

The development of distributed systems is generally regarded as a complex and costly task, and for this reason formal description techniques such as LOTOS and ESTELLE (both standardized by the ISO) are increasingly used in this process. Our experience is that LOTOS can be exploited at many stages on the design trajectory, from requirements specification to implementation, but that the language elements do not allow direct formalization of performance requirements. To avoid duplication of effort by using two formalisms with distinct approaches, we propose a design method that incorporates performance constraints in an heuristic but effective manner

Structural characterization of decomposition in rate-insensitive stochastic Petri nets

This paper focuses on stochastic Petri nets that have an equilibrium distribution that is a product form over the number of tokens at the places. We formulate a decomposition result for the class of nets that have a product form solution irrespective of the values of the transition rates. These nets where algebraically characterized by Haddad et al.~as $S\Pi^2$ nets. By providing an intuitive interpretation of this algebraical characterization, and associating state machines to sets of $T$-invariants, we obtain a one-to-one correspondence between the marking of the original places and the places of the added state machines. This enables us to show that the subclass of stochastic Petri nets under study can be decomposed into subnets that are identified by sets of its $T$-invariants

Concave Switching in Single and Multihop Networks

Switched queueing networks model wireless networks, input queued switches and numerous other networked communications systems. For single-hop networks, we consider a {($\alpha,g$)-switch policy} which combines the MaxWeight policies with bandwidth sharing networks -- a further well studied model of Internet congestion. We prove the maximum stability property for this class of randomized policies. Thus these policies have the same first order behavior as the MaxWeight policies. However, for multihop networks some of these generalized polices address a number of critical weakness of the MaxWeight/BackPressure policies. For multihop networks with fixed routing, we consider the Proportional Scheduler (or (1,log)-policy). In this setting, the BackPressure policy is maximum stable, but must maintain a queue for every route-destination, which typically grows rapidly with a network's size. However, this proportionally fair policy only needs to maintain a queue for each outgoing link, which is typically bounded in number. As is common with Internet routing, by maintaining per-link queueing each node only needs to know the next hop for each packet and not its entire route. Further, in contrast to BackPressure, the Proportional Scheduler does not compare downstream queue lengths to determine weights, only local link information is required. This leads to greater potential for decomposed implementations of the policy. Through a reduction argument and an entropy argument, we demonstrate that, whilst maintaining substantially less queueing overhead, the Proportional Scheduler achieves maximum throughput stability.Comment: 28 page

Point queue models: a unified approach

In transportation and other types of facilities, various queues arise when the demands of service are higher than the supplies, and many point and fluid queue models have been proposed to study such queueing systems. However, there has been no unified approach to deriving such models, analyzing their relationships and properties, and extending them for networks. In this paper, we derive point queue models as limits of two link-based queueing model: the link transmission model and a link queue model. With two definitions for demand and supply of a point queue, we present four point queue models, four approximate models, and their discrete versions. We discuss the properties of these models, including equivalence, well-definedness, smoothness, and queue spillback, both analytically and with numerical examples. We then analytically solve Vickrey's point queue model and stationary states in various models. We demonstrate that all existing point and fluid queue models in the literature are special cases of those derived from the link-based queueing models. Such a unified approach leads to systematic methods for studying the queueing process at a point facility and will also be helpful for studies on stochastic queues as well as networks of queues.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Arrival first queueing networks with applications in kanban production systems

In this paper we introduce a new class of queueing networks called {\it arrival first networks}. We characterise its transition rates and derive the relationship between arrival rules, linear partial balance equations, and product form stationary distributions. This model is motivated by production systems operating under a kanban protocol. In contrast with the conventional {\em departure first networks}, where a transition is initiated by service completion of items at the originating nodes that are subsequently routed to the destination nodes (push system), in an arrival first network a transition is initiated by the destination nodes of the items and subsequently those items are processed at and removed from the originating nodes (pull system). These are similar to the push and pull systems in manufacturing systems

Regenerative Simulation for Queueing Networks with Exponential or Heavier Tail Arrival Distributions

Multiclass open queueing networks find wide applications in communication, computer and fabrication networks. Often one is interested in steady-state performance measures associated with these networks. Conceptually, under mild conditions, a regenerative structure exists in multiclass networks, making them amenable to regenerative simulation for estimating the steady-state performance measures. However, typically, identification of a regenerative structure in these networks is difficult. A well known exception is when all the interarrival times are exponentially distributed, where the instants corresponding to customer arrivals to an empty network constitute a regenerative structure. In this paper, we consider networks where the interarrival times are generally distributed but have exponential or heavier tails. We show that these distributions can be decomposed into a mixture of sums of independent random variables such that at least one of the components is exponentially distributed. This allows an easily implementable embedded regenerative structure in the Markov process. We show that under mild conditions on the network primitives, the regenerative mean and standard deviation estimators are consistent and satisfy a joint central limit theorem useful for constructing asymptotically valid confidence intervals. We also show that amongst all such interarrival time decompositions, the one with the largest mean exponential component minimizes the asymptotic variance of the standard deviation estimator.Comment: A preliminary version of this paper will appear in Proceedings of Winter Simulation Conference, Washington, DC, 201

A <i>P</i>- and <i>T</i>-invariant characterization of product form and decomposition in stochastic Petri nets

Structural product form and decomposition results for stochastic Petri nets are surveyed,unifed and extended. The contribution is threefold. First, the literature on structural results for product form over the number of tokens at the places is surveyed and rephrased completely in terms of T-invariants. Second, based on the underlying concept of group-local-balance, the product form results for stochastic Petri nets are demarcated and an intuitive explanation is provided of these results based on T-invariants, only. Third, a decomposition result is provided that is completely formulated in terms of both T-invariants and P-invariants