Negative probabilities at work in the M/D/1 queue

This article derives amazingly accurate approximations to the state probabilities and waiting-time probabilities in the M/D/1 queue using a two-phase process with negative probabilities to approximate the deterministic service time. The approximations are in the form of explicit expressions involving geometric and exponential terms. The approximations extend to the finite-capacity M/D/1/N + 1 queue. © 2007 Cambridge University Press