Analysis of feedback fluid queues

Abstract

In this article we consider the stationary behaviour of a class of feedback fluid queues. A feedback fluid queue is a natural generalisation of the well-known Markov modulated fluid queue. The essential difference is that the current state of the fluid buffer influences the behaviour of the regulating process. Therefore these models are relevant for the performance evaluation of certain regulation mechanisms in telecommunications access networks. Typically, they enable the analysis of mechanisms in which the content of a buffer is driven by some source process, while the source process itself is influenced by feedback signals coming from the buffer