QUEUEING THEORY

One of the most important measures of data network is average delay required to
deliver a packet from origin to destination. Delay considerations strongly influence
the choice and performance of network algorithms, such as routing and flow
control.

Queueing theory is the primary methodological framework for analyzing network

delay.

Packet delay:- It is the sum of delays within the subnet traversed by the packet.
Each link delay consists of 4 components:

1. Processing delay: - It is the delay between the time packet is correctly received
at head node and the time it is assigned to outgoing queue.

2. Queueing delay: - It is the delay between the time packet is assigned to the
queue and the time it starts being transmitted.

3. Transmission delay: - It is the delay between the times first and last bit of
packet is transmitted.

4. Propagation delay: - It is the delay between the time last bit is transmitted from
head node and the time last bit is received at tail node.

QUEUEING MODELS-LITTLE’S
THEOREM
In this queueing system, we consider those systems where packets arrive at random
times to obtain service.

Service time corresponds to the packet transmission time.

Service time = L/C sec

Where L= packet length(in bits)

 C= transmission capacity( in bits/sec)

Little’s Theorem estimates 2 quantities:

1. The avg no. of packets in the system(N)

2. The avg delay per packet.

These quantities will be estimated in terms of the following:-

1. The packet arrival rate

2. The packet service rate

But, in many cases these two are not sufficient to determine delay characteristics of
the system.

According to little’s theorem

N=λT where

N= avg no of packets in the system.

T=avg packet time in the system.

λ = Arrival rate of packet

For ex- On a rainy day, while streets are more crowded (large N), traffic moves
slower (large T).

Little’s theorem also shows that

NQ=λW, where

NQ = Average no of packets waiting in a queue.

W=Average packet waiting time in queue.

 THE M/M/1 QUEUEING SYSTEM
It considers those queueing systems that consists of a single queueing stations with
a single transmission line.

The name M/M/1 reflects standard queueing theory nomenclature:-

1. The first letter indicates nature of packet arrival process, i.e.,

M = memory less(exponentially distributed or poisson process)

G= General distributed

D= Deterministic

2. The second letter indicates nature of service types.

3. The last number indicates the no. of servers or the no. of transmission lines.

The results of the M/M/1 Queueing System are as follows:-

1. The proportion of time the transmission line is busy is called utilization

factor,ρ.

ρ = λ/µ, where

λ = Packet arrival rate

µ = Packet service rate

2. Avg. no of packets in the system are:

 N=ρ/(1-ρ), where ρ is the utilization factor.

3. Avg. packet time in the system

T= N/λ or 1/(µ-λ)

4. Avg. no of packets in the queue

NQ =ρ2/(1-ρ)

5. Avg. waiting time in the queue

W=ρ/(µ-λ)

A graph representing relationship between N and ρ. As ρ→1,N→∞

ρ 1
 THE M/M/m QUEUEING SYSTEM- THE
m-SERVER CASE
The M/M/m Queueing System is identical to The M/M/1 system except that there
are m servers or channels of a transmission line.

The packet at the head of the queue is routed to any server or transmission line that
is available.

The results of the M/M/m Queueing System are as follows:-

1. The utilization factor, ρ is less than that in M/M/1 Queueing systems. In this,

ρ = λ/mµ, where

λ = packet arrival rate

µ = packet service rate

m= no. of transmission lines

2. The avg. no of packets in the system will be

N=mρ+ρPQ/(1-ρ) , where

PQ= probability that an arriving packet has to wait in queue.

3. Avg. waiting time in queue

W= ρPQ/λ(1-ρ)

4. Avg. no of packets in the queue

NQ = ρPQ/(1-ρ)
 5. Avg. packet time in the system

T= W+1/µ

THE M/G/1 QUEUEING SYSTEM

The nomenclature of M/G/1 Queueing System is as follows:

1. M indicates that packets arrive in exponentially distributed process(or poisson

process or memory less)

2. G indicates that packets service time have a general distribution.

3. 1 indicates that it is a single server queueing system.

The results of the M/G/1 Queueing System are as follows:-

1. The utilization factor is same as M/M/1 systems i.e.,

ρ = λ/µ

2. Ri is the residual service time seem by the ith packet. It means that if packet j
is already being served when i arrives, Ri is the remaining time until packet j
service time is complete. If no packet is in service then Ri is zero.

R= mean residual service time

R=λX2/2, where

X= Avg service time

3. Avg packet waiting time in the queue

W=R/(1-ρ)

4. Avg packet time in the system

 T=W+1/µ

5. Avg number of packets in the queue

NQ =λ2X2/2(1-ρ)

6. Avg number of packets in the system

N=ρ+ NQ

THE PRIORITY QUEUEING SYSTEMS

This type of queueing systems are variants of the M/G/1 queueing systems with a
difference that arriving packets are divided into n different priority class. Class 1
has the highest priority, class 2 second highest and so on. It can be divided into two
categories:

1. Nonpreemptive priority

2. Preemptive resume priority

Nonpreemptive priority rule:

In non preemptive priority queueing, a packet undergoing service is allowed to
complete service without interruption even if a packet of higher priority arrives in
the meantime. A separate queue is maintained for each priority class. When server
becomes free, the first packet of highest priority enters the service.

Preemptive resume priority rule:

The average delay of the priority class depends upon the arrival rate of lower
priority classes. In this type of queueing systems, service of a packet is interrupted
when a higher priority packet arrives and then is resumed from the point of
interruption once all packets of higher priority packets have been served.