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Performance Analysis of Retrial Queues with Server Subject to Two Types of

Breakdowns and Repairs

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Oper Res Int J
DOI 10.1007/s12351-016-0275-4

ORIGINAL PAPER

Performance analysis of retrial queue with server

subject to two types of breakdowns and repairs

B. Krishna Kumar1 • R. Rukmani2 •

A. Thanikachalam1 • V. Kanakasabapathi1

Received: 21 April 2016 / Revised: 14 August 2016 / Accepted: 20 October 2016

 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Abstract This paper analyses a Markovian retrial queue where the server is subject
to breakdowns and repairs. It is assumed that the breakdowns/repairs behaviour
when the server is idle is different from the one when it is busy. Under the steady-
state condition, explicit expressions for the partial probability generating functions
of the server status and the number of customers in the orbit are obtained along with
some key performance measures of the system. In addition, we study two new orbit
characteristics, namely, the orbit idle period and the orbit busy period by using the
first principle arguments. An approximate method of analysis for the system with
losses is also suggested. The stochastic decomposition property is shown to hold
good for the underlying retrial queueing system. Besides, we study the asymptotic
behaviour of the system size under extreme conditions. Finally, some numerical
results are illustrated.

Keywords Retrial queue  Random breakdowns  Repair time  Steady-state

condition  Generating functions  Orbit characteristics  Laplace–Stieltjes
transform  First-step analysis  Stochastic decomposition  Limiting behaviour

1 Introduction

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in modelling and analysing of
queueing systems with repeated attempts, the so-called retrial queues. These
queueing systems are described by the feature that the arriving customers (users,
calls, data, packets) who find the server busy join the retrial group/orbit to try again

& B. Krishna Kumar

drbkkumar@hotmail.com
1
Department of Mathematics, College of Engineering, Anna University, Chennai 600 025, India
2
Department of Mathematics, Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai 600 030, India

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

for their requests in a random order and at random time intervals. Retrial queues are
widely seen in numerous real-life systems such as telephone switching systems,
mobile communication networks, random access protocols in wireless networks,
call centers, wavelength-routed optical networks and Shared Bus Local Area
Networks. For instance, peripherals in computer systems might often make retrials
in competing to receive service from a Central Processing Unit. Hosts in Local Area
Networks (LAN) might also make many retrials in order to access the communi-
cation medium, which is clearly indicated in the Carrier Sense Multiple Access
(CSMA) protocol that controls the access. Due to the complexity of the system, an
analysis of retrial queues is intricate compared to that of the corresponding queueing
models without repeated attempts, specifically, in finding the explicit expressions
for performance measures of the system and other aspects of particular interest. For
detailed overviews of several results and the bibliographical information about
retrial queues, the readers are referred to Falin (1990), Falin and Templeton (1997),
Kulkarni and Liang (1997), Choi and Chang (1999), Artalejo and Gomez-Corral
(2008) and Artalejo (2010).
In most of the queueing systems, the server is assumed to be reliable and always
available to customers, but such an assumption appears to be unrealistic. A
remarkable and unavoidable phenomenon in the service facility of a queueing
system is breakdown. Until the failed service facility is restored, the performances
of the system such as the waiting time of the customers, the throughput of the
system, etc., may be heavily affected. To offset this, an emergency service facility is
normally provided (see White and Christie 1958; Thiruvengadam 1963; Avi-Itzhak
and Naor 1963; Mitrany and Avi-Itzhak 1968; Krishna Kumar et al. 2002a). Queues
with service interruptions have several applications in real-life systems such as
computer communication switching systems, voice/data communication systems,
computer communication networks, etc. Though retrial queueing systems with
unreliable server have also been studied by several authors, the literature devoted to
such systems is comparatively less. Interested readers can find the models of
unreliable retrial queues and their main results in Kulkarni and Choi (1990), Aissani
(1994), Aissani and Artalejo (1998), Krishna Kumar et al. (2002b), Falin (2008),
Wang et al. (2001, 2011), Sherman and Kharoufeh (2006), Sherman et al. (2009),
Efrosinin and Winkler (2011), Zhang and Wang (2013) and Boualem (2014). For a
review of the main results on retrial queues with breakdowns and repairs, the
readers are referred to the recent survey paper by Krishnamoorthy et al. (2014).
In this paper, we study a single server retrial queue where the server is subject to
failures and repairs. The server stays up for an exponential time and then fails.
There are two types of Poisson interruptions/failures: passive breakdowns which
may occur while the server is in normal idle-up state, (i.e., when the server is
operative and idle) and active breakdowns which may occur during the service time
period, (i.e., when the server is busy). It is also assumed that the repair time
durations due to the passive and active breakdowns of the server follow non-
identical exponential distributions.
The main objective of this article is to present closed form analytical expressions
for new results of the retrial queueing system when the server is subject to both
passive and active breakdowns. Apart from its theoretical interest, our retrial

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

queueing system has potential applications in a packet-switching network. For

instance, TCP/IP networks rely on packet switching techniques which seem to be a
suitable transport layer protocol for the next-generation internet, due to the variable
length of IP packets. The router is an interconnected device that links two or more
networks in a packet switching network, which takes responsibility for receiving IP
packets and transmitting them to the next hub, according to the routing information
found in its forwarding table. A stream of IP packets arrive at the router interface for
transmission. Each successful IP packet has an instant connection holding time if
the server is idle and available. However, due to limitations in the TCP/IP network
path MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit), some IP packets may not be accepted,
resulting in blockade. The blocked IP packets will enter into a virtual buffer, the so-
called orbit which is located inside the router. The IP packets from the orbit repeat
attempts for transmission at a later period. Besides, in the normal course, preventive
maintenance activities such as virus scan and routing information backup may be
programmed on a regular basis when the server is idle. As soon as these
maintenance activities are completed, the server will enter into the idle state again
and wait for new or blocked IP packets to arrive. In addition, due to power-off or
virus or other technical faults, the server may fail (breakdown) during the packet
transmission period and the repair process will start immediately after such
unpredictable breakdowns of the server. The transmission of the interrupted IP
packets resumes as soon as the repair process is completed. This scenario can be
treated as a retrial queueing system with server subject to passive and active
breakdowns/repairs.
Our interest and motivation in investigating this type of retrial queueing system
stems primarily from both its interesting mathematical properties as well as its
probability distribution which are radically different from those of the commonly
analysed retrial queues with breakdowns. Explicit expressions for some interesting
and important system performance measures are derived under the steady-state
condition. Apart from the idle and busy periods of the system, two new performance
measures of the orbit, namely, the orbit idle period and the orbit busy period are
investigated. Moreover, under the assumed dynamics, it is shown that the steady-
state system size distribution possesses a stochastic decomposition property. We
have also suggested an approximate method of analysis based on the model under
discussion with losses. Finally, under an extreme condition, the limit theorem for
the system size distribution is also analysed.

2 Model description

Consider the classical M=M=1 retrial queue where the primary customers arrive
according to a Poisson process with rate k. The server is subject to two types of
Poisson interruptions/failures, namely, passive and active breakdowns and repairs.
The passive breakdown means that when the server is in normal idle-up state, it fails
at an exponential rate g, i.e., the idle-up server fails after an exponential amount of
time with mean 1g. The active breakdown means that when the server is serving a

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

customer, i.e., when the server is operative and busy, it fails at an exponential rate a.
However, in both these cases, further failures cannot occur when the server is under
repair. It is assumed that when an idle-up server fails, the repair time is
exponentially distributed with mean 1n whereas when a busy server fails, the
corresponding repair time is exponentially distributed with mean b1. In both cases,
the repair starts immediately after the server fails. We also assume that, when the
service to a customer is interrupted by an active breakdown, the customer in service
does not leave the server (service facility) but waits to be served again. In other
words, as soon as the interruptions/repairs are resolved, the service to a customer
that is interrupted by the server’s failure is resumed.
Apart from the server’s passive and active breakdowns/repairs, we include static
Bernoulli routing of arriving primary customers. Specifically, when the server is in
normal idle-up state, a system controller routes an arriving primary customer either
to seize the server for service with probability p, ð0  p  1Þ; or to the retrial orbit
with complementary probability 1  p. However, the system controller always
routes the primary customer to the retrial orbit, if the server is busy or under repair.
Every customer in the retrial orbit conducts a stream of repeated requests/retrials
after an exponentially distributed amount of time interval with parameter mj ¼ jm
where j; ðj  0Þ, is the number of customers in the retrial orbit and m is the retrial
rate. It is clear that the customers in the retrial orbit can gain access to the server
only when it is in normal idle-up state at the time of a retrial attempt. It is assumed
that the service times for both primary customers and orbiting customers are
independent and identically distributed exponential random variables with mean l1.
Finally, arrival, service, failure, repair and retrial processes are assumed to be
mutually independent.
Let XQ ðtÞ be the number of customers in the retrial group/orbit at time ‘t’ and
C(t) represents the status of the server (service facility) at time ‘t’ as defined below:
8
> 0 if the server is operative and idle (normal idle-up status)
>
>
< 1 if the server is operative and busy
CðtÞ ¼
>
> 2 if the server is under repair due to passive breakdown
>
:
3 if the server is under repair due to active breakdown:
 
Thus, the continuous time stochastic process NðtÞ ¼ ðXQ ðtÞ; CðtÞÞ; t  0
describes the state of the system at time t on the state space E ¼ Zþ  f0; 1; 2; 3g
where Zþ ¼ f0; 1; 2; . . .g. Indeed, the bi-variate process N(t) is an irreducible and
aperiodic Markov process. In what follows, Pji ðtÞ ¼ PðXQ ðtÞ ¼ j; CðtÞ ¼ iÞ,
j 2 Zþ , i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g, is the joint probability distribution of the number of cus-
tomers in the orbit and the status of the server at time t.
We are interested in the limiting behaviour of the process NðtÞ ¼
 
ðXQ ðtÞ; CðtÞÞ; t  0 as t ! 1. Thus, we consider the system under steady-state
 
condition 1 þ ba lk \1, which will be derived later. In the next section, we shall

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

discuss the steady-state joint distribution of the state of the server and the number of
customers in the orbit.

3 Steady-state analysis

Let pðj; iÞ denote the limiting joint probability that the system is in state (j, i),
i:e:; pðj; iÞ ¼ lim PðXQ ðtÞ ¼ j; CðtÞ ¼ iÞ; j 2 Zþ ; i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g
t!1
 
exists and is positive under the steady-state condition 1 þ ba lk \1. Further, the
joint steady-state probabilities pðj; iÞ; j 2 Zþ ; i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g satisfy the following
system of balance equations:

ðk þ gÞ pð0; 0Þ ¼ lpð0; 1Þ þ npð0; 2Þ ð3:1Þ

ðk þ g þ jmÞ pðj; 0Þ ¼ kð1  pÞpðj  1; 0Þ þ lpðj; 1Þ þ npðj; 2Þ; j ¼ 1; 2; 3; . . .;

ð3:2Þ

ðk þ l þ aÞpð0; 1Þ ¼ mpð1; 0Þ þ kppð0; 0Þ þ bpð0; 3Þ ð3:3Þ

ðk þ l þ aÞpðj; 1Þ ¼ kpðj  1; 1Þ þ kppðj; 0Þ þ bpðj; 3Þ þ ðj þ 1Þmpðj þ 1; 0Þ; j ¼ 1; 2; 3; . . .;

ð3:4Þ

ðk þ nÞpð0; 2Þ ¼ gpð0; 0Þ ð3:5Þ

ðk þ nÞpðj; 2Þ ¼ gpðj; 0Þ þ kpðj  1; 2Þ; j ¼ 1; 2; 3; . . . ð3:6Þ

ðk þ bÞpð0; 3Þ ¼ apð0; 1Þ ð3:7Þ

ðk þ bÞpðj; 3Þ ¼ apðj; 1Þ þ kpðj  1; 3Þ; j ¼ 1; 2; 3; . . .: ð3:8Þ

In order to solve Eqs. (3.1)–(3.8), we define the partial generating functions
X
1
Gi ðzÞ ¼ pðj; iÞzj ; jzj  1; i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g:
j¼0

In the following theorem, we derive the partial generating functions of the limiting
probabilities of the system states.
 
Theorem 1 If 1 þ ba lk \1, then the partial generating functions
Gi ðzÞ; i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g, are determined explicitly as

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

 
     k ð1  pÞð1  zÞ
n a k
G0 ðzÞ ¼ 1 1þ e m
gþn b l
 
 g 1 þ kða þ b  nÞ
n m ðn þ kð1  z1 ÞÞðn þ kð1  z2 ÞÞ

n þ kð1  zÞ
   ð3:9Þ
 1 kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b 1 þ g
z1  z m z1  z2 n þ kð1  z1 Þ

z1  1
  
  1 kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b 1 þ g
z2  z m z1  z2 n þ kð1  z2 Þ

z2  1
  
g b þ kð1  zÞ
G1 ðzÞ ¼ 1 þ G0 ðzÞ ð3:10Þ
n þ kð1  zÞ kðz  z1 Þðz  z2 Þ
 
g
G2 ðzÞ ¼ G0 ðzÞ ð3:11Þ
n þ kð1  zÞ
and
  
a g 1
G3 ðzÞ ¼ 1þ G0 ðzÞ ð3:12Þ
k n þ kð1  zÞ ðz  z1 Þðz  z2 Þ
where
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ðk þ l þ a þ bÞ  ðk þ l þ a þ bÞ2  4lðk þ bÞ
z1 ; z2 ¼
2k
are real and positive with z1 [ z2 ,
ðk þ bÞl kþlþaþb
z1 z2 ¼ ; z1 þ z2 ¼ and
k2 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
k
ðk þ l þ a þ bÞ2  4lðk þ bÞ
z1  z2 ¼ :
k

Proof Multiplying (3.1)–(3.8) by zj and summing over j; j 2 Zþ , after some

simplifications, we obtain the following equations:
dG0 ðzÞ
mz ¼ ½kð1  ð1  pÞzÞ þ g G0 ðzÞ þ l G1 ðzÞ þ n G2 ðzÞ ð3:13Þ
dz

½kð1  zÞ þ n G2 ðzÞ ¼ g G0 ðzÞ ð3:14Þ

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

dG0 ðzÞ
m ¼ ½a þ l þ kð1  zÞ G1 ðzÞ  kp G0 ðzÞ  b G3 ðzÞ ð3:15Þ
dz

½kð1  zÞ þ b G3 ðzÞ ¼ a G1 ðzÞ: ð3:16Þ

dG0 ðzÞ
Now, eliminating dz from (3.13) and (3.15), we get

½kð1  zÞ þ g G0 ðzÞ ¼ ½ð1  zÞðl  kzÞ  az G1 ðzÞ þ bz G3 ðzÞ þ n G2 ðzÞ:

ð3:17Þ
Combining (3.14), (3.16) and (3.17), after some algebra, we have
  
kðkð1  zÞ þ g þ nÞ b þ kð1  zÞ
G1 ðzÞ ¼ G0 ðzÞ: ð3:18Þ
n þ kð1  zÞ ðb þ kð1  zÞÞðl  kzÞ  akz
Usage of the above in (3.16) yields
  
kðkð1  zÞ þ g þ nÞ 1
G3 ðzÞ ¼ a G0 ðzÞ ð3:19Þ
n þ kð1  zÞ ðb þ kð1  zÞÞðl  kzÞ  akz
whence
  
a g 1
G3 ðzÞ ¼ 1þ G0 ðzÞ
k n þ kð1  zÞ ðz  z1 Þðz  z2 Þ
where z1 and z2 are as given earlier. So far, we have obtained the required results
(3.10)–(3.12) and only (3.9) remains to be determined.
Setting z ¼ 1 in (3.10)–(3.12), using the normalization condition
G0 ð1Þ þ G1 ð1Þ þ G2 ð1Þ þ G3 ð1Þ ¼ 1

and on simplification, we have the following probability descriptors:

The probability that the server is in normal idle-up state (operative and idle):
  
n a k
p0 ¼ G0 ð1Þ ¼ 1 1þ : ð3:20Þ
gþn b l
The probability that the server is busy:
k
p1 ¼ G1 ð1Þ ¼ : ð3:21Þ
l
The probability that the server is under repair due to passive breakdown:
  
g a k
p2 ¼ G2 ð1Þ ¼ 1 1þ : ð3:22Þ
gþn b l

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

The probability that the server is under repair due to active breakdown:
ak
p3 ¼ G3 ð1Þ ¼ : ð3:23Þ
bl
Now, substituting (3.18) and (3.19) in (3.15) and after some algebra, we get
   
dG0 ðzÞ k g kðkð1  zÞ þ a þ bÞ
¼ 1þ 1þ  p G0 ðzÞ:
dz m n þ kð1  zÞ ðb þ kð1  zÞÞðl  kzÞ  akz

By partial fraction expansion, the above can be expressed as

  
dG0 ðzÞ k kg 1
¼ ð1  pÞ þ
dz m m n þ kð1  zÞ
  
1 kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b 1
þ
m z1  z2 z  z1
  
1 kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b 1

m z1  z2 z  z2
 2   ð3:24Þ
g k ða þ b  nÞ 1
þ
m ðn þ kð1  z1 ÞÞðn þ kð1  z2 ÞÞ n þ kð1  zÞ
  
g kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b 1
þ
m ðz1  z2 Þðn þ kð1  z1 ÞÞ z  z1
  
g kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b 1
 G0 ðzÞ
m ðz1  z2 Þðn þ kð1  z2 ÞÞ z  z2
where z1 and z2 are as given before. Moreover, under the stability condition

1 þ ba lk \1, both z1 and z2 must be greater than 1. Solving (3.24) with initial
condition (3.20) and after some mathematical manipulations, we get (3.9).
Hence, the partial generating functions Gi ðzÞ; i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g are obtained
explicitly. h
 
Remark 1 Equations (3.20) and (3.22) ensure that 1 þ ba lk \1 is the necessary
and sufficient condition for the stability of the system as assumed in Sect. 2.
Further, it is interesting to note that the probability descriptors (3.20)–(3.23) do not
depend on the retrial rate m.
Finally, the probability generating function, GðzÞ ¼ G0 ðzÞ þ zG1 ðzÞ þ G2 ðzÞþ
zG3 ðzÞ, of the number of customers in the system under stability condition is given
by

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

     
gð1  hÞ n a k zðkð1  zÞ þ a þ bÞ
GðzÞ ¼ 1 þ 1 1þ 1þ
nð1  hzÞ g þ n b l kðz  z1 Þðz  z2 Þ
    
k  1 gð1  hÞ kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b
 ð1  pÞð1  zÞ z  z 1þ
e m
1 m nð1  hz1 Þ z1  z2
1  z1
  
  1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b
z  z2 m nð1  hz2 Þ z1  z2

1  z2
 
 g 1 þ hð1  hÞða þ b  nÞ
1h m nð1  hz1 Þð1  hz2 Þ

1  hz
ð3:25Þ
k
where h ¼ kþn and kn ¼ ð1hÞ
h
.
Next, we compute explicit expressions for the partial moments for the retrial
queueing system under discussion. Let Mi ; i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g, be the partial moments
defined by  
P
Mi ¼ 1 a k
j¼1 jpðj; iÞ. If 1 þ b l \1, then the routine differentiation of the partial
generating functions Gi ðzÞ; i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g, with respect to z and evaluation at z ¼ 1
yields
    
k np a k
M0 ¼ 1 1 1þ ð3:26Þ
m gþn b l
  
a k
1 1þ    
b l g p ð2  z1  z2 Þ
M1 ¼ b   1
ð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ nðg þ nÞ m kð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ ð3:27Þ
 
gþn b
þ
nm ð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ
     
kg a k n 1 p 1
M2 ¼ 1 1þ  þ ð3:28Þ
n b l gþn n m m
and
8   9
> a k >
>
< 1 1þb l     >
=
g p ð2  z1  z2 Þ gþn 1
M3 ¼ a   þ :
>
> ð1  z 1 Þð1  z 2 Þ nðg þ nÞ m kð1  z 1 Þð1  z 2 Þ nm ð1  z 1 Þð1  z 2 Þ>
>
: ;

ð3:29Þ

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

Finally, the expected number, EðXS Þ, of customers in the system under the stability
condition is calculated by differentiating (3.25) with respect to z and evaluating at
z ¼ 1, as

EðXS Þ ¼ M0 þ G1 ð1Þ þ M1 þ M2 þ M3 þ G3 ð1Þ

     
k np a k a k
¼ 1 1 1þ þ 1þ
m gþn b l b l
  
gþn aþb
þ
nm ð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ
  
a k
1 1þ    
b l g p ð2  z1  z2 Þ
þ ða þ bÞ   1
ð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ nðg þ nÞ m kð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ
     
kg a k n 1 p 1
þ 1 1þ  þ : ð3:30Þ
n b l gþn n m m

4 Performance measures

In this section, we study some key performance measures for our retrial queueing
system under the stability condition:
1. The probability, pð0; 0Þ, of no customer in the system is obtained by setting
z ¼ 0 in G0 ðzÞ as  
     k ð1  pÞ
n a k
pð0; 0Þ ¼ G0 ð0Þ ¼ 1 1þ e m
gþn b l
 
g hð1  hÞða þ b  nÞ
1þ
 ½ 1  h m nð1  hz1 Þð1  hz2 Þ
  
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b
z1 m nð1  hz1 Þ z1  z2

z1  1
  
  1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b
z2 m nð1  hz2 Þ z1  z2
 :
z2  1
ð4:1Þ

2. The regeneration cycle, T, of our system is the time elapsed between two
consecutive primary customer arrivals finding the system empty. Thus the
mean length of the regeneration cycle is
1
EðTÞ ¼ k ð4:2Þ
pð0; 0Þ
where pð0; 0Þ is given in (4.1).

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

3. The mean length, EðT0 Þ, of the server’s normal idle-up state during the mean
cycle period is given as
EðT0 Þ ¼ EðTÞG0 ð1Þ
   
k g hð1  hÞða þ b  nÞ
1 ð1  pÞ  1 þ
¼ e m ½1  h m nð1  hz1 Þð1  hz2 Þ
k   
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b ð4:3Þ
z1  1 m nð1  hz1 Þ z1  z2

z1
  
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b
z2 m nð1  hz2 Þ z1  z2
 :
z2  1

4. The mean length, EðT1 Þ, of the server’s busy period during the mean cycle
period is computed as
EðT1 Þ ¼ EðTÞG1 ð1Þ
 
k  
  ð1  pÞ g hð1  hÞða þ b  nÞ
1 gþn e m  1þ
¼    ½ 1  h m nð1  hz1 Þð1  hz2 Þ
l n a k
1 1þ
b l
  
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b
z1  1 m nð1  hz1 Þ z1  z2

z1
  
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b
z2 m nð1  hz2 Þ z1  z2
 :
z2  1
ð4:4Þ

5. The mean length, EðT2 Þ, of the server under repair due to the passive
breakdown is determined as
   
g a k
EðT2 Þ ¼ EðTÞG2 ð1Þ ¼ 1 1þ EðTÞ: ð4:5Þ
gþn b l

6. The mean length, EðT3 Þ, of the server under repair due to the active breakdown
is obtained as
ak
EðT3 Þ ¼ EðTÞG3 ð1Þ ¼ EðTÞ: ð4:6Þ
bl

7. The probability that the server is under breakdown/repair as

   
g a k ak
PR ¼ G2 ð1Þ þ G3 ð1Þ ¼ 1 1þ þ : ð4:7Þ
gþn b l bl

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

8. The probability that the server is in operative/working state as

   
n a k k
PW ¼ G0 ð1Þ þ G1 ð1Þ ¼ 1 1þ þ : ð4:8Þ
gþn b l l

9. The probability of the server being blocked is calculated as

   
n g a k
PB ¼ 1  G0 ð1Þ ¼ þ 1þ : ð4:9Þ
gþn n b l

10. The busy period, L, of the retrial queueing system is defined as the period that
started at the epoch when an arriving primary customer finds an empty system
(i.e., the server is idle and no customer is in the orbit) and ends at the departure
epoch of a customer when the system becomes empty again. The mean length,
E(L), of the system busy period of our retrial queueing system is obtained
directly by the theory of regenerative process as
 
1 1 1
EðLÞ ¼  1 ¼ EðTÞ 
k pð0; 0Þ k
82 3    
>
> g k g hð1  hÞða þ b  nÞ
< 1 þ ð1  pÞ 1 þ
1 6 7 m 
¼ 6
4  n 7 e ½ 1  h m nð1  hz1 Þð1  hz2 Þ
k>> a k5
: 1 1þ
b l
  
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b
z1  1 m nð1  hz1 Þ z1  z2

z1
   9
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b >
>
=
z2 m nð1  hz 2 Þ z 1  z 2
 1
z2  1 >
>
;

ð4:10Þ
where we have used (4.1).
11. The expected amount, EðTBlock Þ, of time in a regenerative cycle during which
the server being blocked is derived as
 
1
EðTBlock Þ ¼ PB þ EðLÞ ¼ PB EðTÞ
k
  
n g a k ð4:11Þ
þ 1þ
gþn n b l
¼ :
kpð0; 0Þ

12. The overall rate of retrials at which the orbiting customers request for service
is given by

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

1 X
X 3
m 1 ¼m jpðj; iÞ ¼ mðM0 þ M1 þ M2 þ M3 Þ: ð4:12Þ
j¼1 i¼0

13. The rate at which the orbiting customers successfully reach the server while
the status of the server is idle-up is obtained as
X
1
m 2 ¼ m jpðj; 0Þ ¼ mM0 : ð4:13Þ
j¼1

14. The fraction of successful rate of retrials is calculated as

m 2
FSR ¼ : ð4:14Þ
m 1

15. The expected time, WS , a customer spends in the system under the stability
condition is, by Little’s law,
EðXS Þ
WS ¼ : ð4:15Þ
k

5 Orbit performance characteristics

Of all the system performance measures derived herein, the quantities associated
with the status of the orbit apparently play a highly significant role in the retrial
queueing system. The orbit characteristics are vital quantities themselves, since in
real tele-traffic or computer communication systems, it is impossible to distinguish
between primary and orbiting customers. Further, the status of orbit in the retrial
queues cannot be completely observed. In fact, only the service zone is observable.
This additional information about the status of the orbit group appears to be highly
useful.
To this end, we define HðzÞ ¼ G0 ðzÞ þ G1 ðzÞ þ G2 ðzÞ þ G3 ðzÞ to represent the
probability generating function of the number of customers in the orbit. Using (3.9)–
(3.12) and simplifying, we have
  
gð1  hÞ ðkð1  zÞ þ a þ bÞ
HðzÞ ¼ 1 þ 1þ G0 ðzÞ ð5:1Þ
nð1  hzÞ kðz  z1 Þðz  z2 Þ
where G0 ðzÞ is as given in (3.9).
Hence, under the stability condition, the mean number, EðXQ Þ, of customers in
the orbit is calculated as

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.


dHðzÞ a k
EðXQ Þ ¼ j ¼ EðXS Þ  1 þ
dz z¼1 b l
       
k np a k gþn aþb
¼ 1 1 1þ þ
m gþn b l nm ð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ
  
a k
1 1þ    
b l g p ð2  z1  z2 Þ
þ ða þ bÞ   1
ð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ nðg þ nÞ m kð1  z1 Þð1  z2 Þ
     
kg a k n 1 p 1
þ 1 1þ  þ :
n b l gþn n m m
ð5:2Þ
Next, the probability generating function, U(z), of the number of customers in the
orbit immediately after a successful retrial of an orbit customer, i.e., when the server
is occupied by an orbit customer (see Neuts and Ramalhoto 1984) is obtained as
X1
j¼0
ðj þ 1Þm pðj þ 1; 0Þzj G0 ðzÞ
UðzÞ ¼ X1 ¼ 00
ðj þ 1Þm pðj þ 1; 0Þ G0 ð1Þ
j¼0
   
gð1  hÞ kð1  zÞ þ a þ b gð1  hÞ
ð1  pÞ þ þ 1þ
nð1  hzÞ kðz  z1 Þðz  z2 Þ nð1  hzÞ
¼     G0 ðzÞ
np a k
1 1 1þ
gþn b l
ð5:3Þ
and the conditional steady-state probability of the number of customers in the orbit
given that the server is busy (i.e., the server is occupied by either a primary cus-
tomer or an orbit customer) has the generating function V(z) as
  
G1 ðzÞ l ð1  hÞg b þ kð1  zÞ
VðzÞ ¼ ¼ 1þ G0 ðzÞ ð5:4Þ
G1 ð1Þ k ð1  hzÞn kðz  z1 Þðz  z2 Þ
where we have used (3.18) and (3.21).
We now investigate two more important performance measures of the retrial
queueing system under consideration, namely, the orbit idle period and the orbit
busy period (see Artalejo 1993; Artalejo and Falin 1996). To study such orbit
characteristics, we introduce some notations for convenience. Let us denote (j, 0) by
Aj , (j, 1) by Bj , (j, 2) by Cj and (j, 3) by Dj ; j 2 Zþ . Let the first-passage time from
‘a’ to ‘b’ be denoted by Tab and its density function by fab ðtÞ, where the symbols ‘a’
and ‘b’ specify states or subsets of E.
The orbit idle period, OI , is defined as the time spent by the process N(t) during a
visit to the subset E0 ¼ fA0 ; B0 ; C0 ; D0 g. It is noticed that the orbit idle period

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

always begins at B0 . We now derive the distribution of OI and its mean by adopting
the method of convolutive equations suggested by Choo and Conolly (1979).
Employing the first-step analysis, one can easily obtain the following set of
equations:
fB0 E1 ðtÞ ¼ k eðkþlþaÞt þ a eðkþlþaÞt }fD0 E1 ðtÞ þ l eðkþlþaÞt }fA0 E1 ðtÞ ð5:5Þ

fA0 E1 ðtÞ ¼ kð1  pÞ eðkþgÞt þ kp eðkþgÞt }fB0 E1 ðtÞ þ g eðkþgÞt }fC0 E1 ðtÞ ð5:6Þ

fC0 E1 ðtÞ ¼k eðkþnÞt þ n eðkþnÞt }fA0 E1 ðtÞ ð5:7Þ

fD0 E1 ðtÞ ¼k eðkþbÞt þ b eðkþbÞt }fB0 E1 ðtÞ ð5:8Þ

where E1 ¼ fA1 ; B1 ; C1 ; D1 g and ‘}’ denotes the convolution operator. In the

sequel, let f ðsÞ denote the Laplace transform of f(t). The Laplace transforms of
(5.5)–(5.8), respectively, yield
k a l
fB 0 E1 ðsÞ ¼ þ fD 0 E1 ðsÞ þ f ðsÞ
sþkþlþa sþkþlþa s þ k þ l þ a A0 E1
kð1  pÞ kp g
fA 0 E1 ðsÞ ¼ þ f ðsÞ þ f ðsÞ
s þ k þ g s þ k þ g B0 E1 s þ k þ g C 0 E1
k n
fC 0 E1 ðsÞ ¼ þ f ðsÞ
s þ k þ n s þ k þ n A0 E1
k b
fD 0 E1 ðsÞ ¼ þ f ðsÞ:
s þ k þ b s þ k þ b B0 E1
Solving the above equations, we get the Laplace transform fB0 E1 ðtÞ, of the proba-
bility density function of the orbit idle period OI as
 
N1 þ N2
fB0 E1 ðsÞ ¼ k ð5:9Þ
D1  D2
where

N1 ¼ ðs þ k þ a þ bÞ½ðs þ k þ gÞðs þ k þ nÞ  ng

N2 ¼ l ðs þ k þ bÞ½ð1  pÞðs þ k þ nÞ þ g
D1 ¼ ½ðs þ k þ gÞðs þ k þ nÞ  gn½ðs þ k þ bÞðs þ k þ l þ aÞ  ab
D2 ¼ klp ðs þ k þ bÞðs þ k þ nÞ:
Besides, the expected value, EðOI Þ, of OI is computed as
 
dfB E ðsÞ N3  N4  N5  N6
EðOI Þ ¼ ð1Þ 0 1 js¼0 ¼ ð5:10Þ
ds D3

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

where

N3 ¼ k ðk þ n þ gÞðk þ a þ bÞ þ l ðk þ bÞ½ð1  pÞðk þ nÞ þ g

N4 ¼ k ðk þ n þ gÞð2k þ l þ a þ bÞ þ ð2k þ n þ gÞ½ðk þ lÞðk þ bÞ þ ak
 klp ð2k þ n þ bÞ
N5 ¼ k ½ðk þ lÞðk þ bÞ þ akðk þ n þ gÞ  klp ðk þ bÞðk þ nÞ
N6 ¼ k ðk þ g þ nÞ þ ðk þ a þ bÞð2k þ g þ nÞ þ l ð1  pÞð2k þ n þ bÞ þ gl
D3 ¼ k f½ðk þ lÞðk þ bÞ þ akðk þ n þ gÞ  lp ðk þ bÞðk þ nÞg2 :
On the other hand, we define the orbit busy period OB as the elapsed time between
the epoch when the process N(t) leaves E0 and its subsequent visit to this subset. In
order to compute the expected orbit busy period EðOB Þ, we first compute the
probability, PðXQ ¼ 0Þ, of no customer in the orbit (empty orbit) as
X
3 X
3
PðXQ ¼ 0Þ ¼ pð0; iÞ ¼ Gi ð0Þ
i¼0 i¼0 ð5:11Þ
   
g a k
¼ pð0; 0Þ 1 þ 1þ 1þ
kþn kþb l
EðOI Þ
where pð0; 0Þ is given in (4.1). By heuristic argument, the fraction EðOI ÞþEðOB Þ
provides the proportion of time during which the orbit is empty.
Hence, we have
EðOI Þ
PðXQ ¼ 0Þ ¼
EðOI Þ þ EðOB Þ
whence
1  PðXQ ¼ 0Þ
EðOB Þ ¼ EðOI Þ: ð5:12Þ
PðXQ ¼ 0Þ
Combine (5.10)–(5.12) and on simplification, we get
8 9
>
> >
>
< 1 =
EðOB Þ ¼    1
>
> g a k >
>
:pð0; 0Þ 1 þ 1þ 1þ ; ð5:13Þ
kþn kþb l
 
N3  N4  N5  N6
 :
D3
Thus (5.10) and (5.13) are the explicit expressions of the orbit idle period and the
orbit busy period respectively.
Furthermore, under the stability condition, the conditional probability,
PðC ¼ 0=XQ ¼ 0Þ, of the server is in normal idle-up state given that the orbit is
empty is expressed as

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

pð0; 0Þ 1
PðC ¼ 0=XQ ¼ 0Þ ¼ ¼   
PðXQ ¼ 0Þ g a k ð5:14Þ
1þ 1þ 1þ
kþn kþb l
and the conditional probability, PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ, of the empty orbit given that the
server is in normal idle-up state is obtained as
pð0; 0Þ pð0; 0Þ
PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ ¼ ¼
PðC ¼ 0Þ G0 ð1Þ
   
k g hð1  hÞða þ b  nÞ
 ð1  pÞ 1þ
¼e m ½ 1  h m nð1  hz1 Þð1  hz2 Þ
  
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b
z1 m nð1  hz1 Þ z1  z2

z1  1
  
  1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b
z2 m nð1  hz2 Þ z1  z2
 :
z2  1
ð5:15Þ
Finally, the expected number, EðIB Þ, of customers served during the orbit busy
period is obtained as

EðIB Þ ¼ 1 þ kEðOB Þ: ð5:16Þ

In addition to various orbit characteristics investigated earlier, we now analyse the

distribution of the status of the server under low retrial rate condition. Recall that the
stationary probabilities, pi ; i 2 f0; 1; 2; 3g, of the status of the server are given in
(3.20)–(3.23). As pointed out earlier, these probability descriptors do not depend on
the retrial rate m. The retrial rate m describes the behaviour of the blocked customers.
On the other hand, if we assume that m ¼ 0, i.e., the blocked customers are lost
forever, then our system becomes a sort of M=M=1 balking queue with loss system
and the server is subject to passive/active breakdowns and repairs. Obviously, when
ðLÞ
m ¼ 0, the corresponding auxiliary process fðXQ ðtÞ; C ðLÞ ðtÞÞ; t  0g is ergodic for
any arrival rate and the stationary probabilities of the status of the server can be
obtained as
ðLÞ 1
P0 ¼  
g a kp ð5:17Þ
1þ þ 1þ
n b l

kp
ðLÞ l
P1 ¼  ð5:18Þ
g a kp
1þ þ 1þ
n b l

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

g
P2
ðLÞ
¼ n ð5:19Þ
g a kp
1þ þ 1þ
n b l

a kp
ðLÞ bl
P3 ¼  : ð5:20Þ
g a kp
1þ þ 1þ
n b l
Evidently, the steady-state probabilities of the status of the server in the case of
m ¼ 0 are not the same as the corresponding steady-state probabilities when m [ 0.
However, we can establish an interesting relation between (3.20)–(3.23) and
(5.17)–(5.20). With this aim, we consider the functioning of the original system
(with m [ 0) from the point of view of an observer who has information only about
the status of the server. The observer can see the primary customers arriving into the
system from time to time. If the server is in normal idle-up state at the time of
arrival of a primary customer with rate kp, the primary customer is taken for service
immediately. But, if the server is either occupied or under repair period at the time
of arrival of the primary customer then (from the point of view of the observer) the
customer is lost forever (although actually it joins the orbit).
Thus, from the point of view of an observer, who has information only about the
status of the server, the original retrial queueing system is considered as the
corresponding loss system with the server subject to breakdowns and repairs.
However, it is important to note that the input flow to this loss system is composed
of both primary and repeated customers, i.e., it is a combination of the new arrivals
of primary customers with rate kp, relating to immediate service, and the flow of
orbit customers with rate m, relating to delayed service. Hence, this joint flow has a
more complex structure than the flow of primary customers. In fact, it is tedious to
describe this structure. However, it is possible to make some simplified procedures
regarding the structure of the joint flow, which allows us to transform the loss
system into a tractable system. We assume (although formally this is not an exact
assumption) that the flow of repeated/orbit customers is Poisson with rate
2  3
g
1þ
6 n 7
K ¼ lim mEðXQ Þ ¼ k64   p7 5
m!0 a k
1 1þ
b l
where we have used (5.2) for EðXQ Þ.
In the above expression, mEðXQ Þ is the mean rate of flow of retrial customers
from the orbit. Thus, the load, K ¼ limm!0 mEðXQ Þ, formed by the source of
repeated customers can be considered as an additional load to the server (see Falin
and Templeton 1997, pp. 12–13). Further, it is to be noted that the flow of repeated
customers (additional load) with rate K is independent of the flow of primary
customers with rate kp. Thus, the joint flow is Poisson with rate

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...


g
k 1þ
n
k~ ¼ kp þ K ¼  :
a k
1 1þ
b l

It is clear that at every arrival epoch, a primary customer arrives with probability kp
k~
and a customer from the orbit arrives with probability Kk~.
Hence, from the point of view of an observer who knows information only about
the status of the server, the offered traffic is
 
g a k
 ~ 1þ 1þ
a k n b l
q~ ¼ 1 þ ¼    :
b l a k
1 1þ
b l
Now, from (5.17)–(5.20), the limitingprobabilities
 of the status of the server in the
kp
system are determined by replacing 1 þ ba l by q~ as
   
~ðLÞ 1 n a k
P0 ¼  ¼ 1 1þ
g gþn b l
1þ þ q~
n
q~

a
1þ
ðLÞ b k
P~1 ¼  ¼
g l
1þ þ q~
n
g
   
~ðLÞ n g a k
P2 ¼  ¼ 1 1þ
g gþn b l
1þ þ q~
n
and
a q~

b a
1þ
ðLÞ b ak
P~3 ¼ ¼ :
g bl
1þ þ q~
n
Thus, it can be seen from (3.20)–(3.23) that the exact distribution of the status of the
server in the original retrial queueing system is obtained.
From the above analysis and the stationary distribution of the status of the server
of the process fNðtÞ; t  0g, the retrial queueing model under investigation can be

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

thought of as the corresponding loss queueing model with increased arrival rate
k~ ¼ kp þ K.

6 Stochastic decomposition

In this section, we focus on the stochastic decomposition property of the system size
distribution for the retrial queueing model under discussion. The literature on
vacation models recognizes this property as one of the most interesting features (see
Fuhrmann and Cooper 1985; Doshi 1986; Shanthikumar 1988). The classical
interpretation of stochastic decomposition property shows that under the stability
condition, the random variable representing the number of customers present in the
system at an arbitrary epoch is expressed as the sum of two independent random
variables: one is the random variable representing the number of customers in the
corresponding queueing model without server vacations and the other is that of the
number of customers in the system with vacations, given that the server is on
vacations (see Doshi 1990; Takagi 1991; Tian and Zhang 2006).
Stochastic decomposition has also been observed to hold for some retrial
queueing systems (see Artalejo and Falin 1994; Artalejo 1997; Artalejo and Gomez-
Corral 1997; Yang and Templeton 1987; Krishna Kumar and Arivudainambi 2002;
Krishna Kumar et al. 2002b; Atencia et al. 2008).
We now investigate the stochastic decomposition property for the number of
customers in this retrial queueing system where the server is subject to breakdowns
and repairs. More specifically, we show that the number of customers in the system
can be decomposed into three independent random variables which have a clear
physical justification. An intuitive interpretation of this observation is as follows:
The retrial queueing system under study can be treated as a vacation queue where
the vacation represents the period when the server is in normal idle-up state with a
few customers present in the orbit. Thus, it is evident that the number of customers
in the system is the number of retrial/repeated customers in the orbit under the
condition that the server is in normal idle-up state in addition to the number of
customers in the conventional M=M=1 queue without retrials when the server is
subject to passive/active breakdowns and repairs. The conventional M=M=1 queue
with the server subject to passive/active breakdowns and repairs without retrials can
be further assumed as a vacation system in which the vacation corresponds to the
repair period durations on account of passive breakdowns of the server.
Thus, we have the following decomposition theorem for our queueing model.
 
Theorem 2 If 1 þ ba lk \1, then the random variable representing the number of
customers, XS , in the retrial queueing system under study can be expressed as
d
XS ¼ XM=M=1;AB þ XM=M=1;PB þ XQ ð6:1Þ
d
where ¼ in (6.1) means equal in distribution. The random variables on the right
hand side of (6.1) are defined as follows:

123
Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

• XM=M=1;AB : the random variable representing the number of customers in the

conventional M=M=1 queue with server subject to only active breakdowns/
repairs but without retrials.
• XM=M=1;PB : the random variable representing the number of customers in the
conventional M=M=1 queue with server subject to only passive breakdowns/
repairs but without retrials.
• XQ : the random variable representing the number of retrial/repeated customers
in the system given that the server is in normal idle-up state.

Proof We observe from (3.25) that the probability generating function of the
number of customers in the system can be decomposed as follows:
GðzÞ ¼ G0 ðzÞ þ zG1 ðzÞ þ G2 ðzÞ þ zG3 ðzÞ
ð6:2Þ
¼ PM=M=1;AB ðzÞ QM=M=1;PB ðzÞ RQ ðzÞ
where
   
a k zðkð1  zÞ þ a þ bÞ
PM=M=1;AB ðzÞ ¼ EðzXM=M=1;AB Þ ¼ 1  1 þ 1þ ð6:3Þ
b l kðz  z1 Þðz  z2 Þ
   
XM=M=1;PB n g 1h
QM=M=1;PB ðzÞ ¼ Eðz Þ¼ þ ð6:4Þ
gþn g þ n 1  hz

RQ ðzÞ ¼ EðzXQ Þ
   
k   g hð1  hÞða þ b  nÞ
 ð1  pÞð1  zÞ 1  h 1þ
¼e m m nð1  hz1 Þð1  hz2 Þ
1  hz
  
 1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b ð6:5Þ
z  z1 m nð1  hz1 Þ z1  z2

1  z1
  
  1 1 þ gð1  hÞ kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b
z  z2 m nð1  hz2 Þ z1  z2
 :
1  z2
We observe that, in the case of high rate of retrials,

lim GðzÞ ¼ GM=M=1;B ðzÞ where GM=M=1;B ðzÞ ¼ PM=M=1;AB ðzÞ QM=M=1;PB ðzÞ
m!1

is the probability generating function of the number of customers in the conven-

tional M=M=1 queueing system with unreliable server due to both active and pas-
sive breakdowns/repairs (see White and Christie 1958; Thiruvengadam 1963) and
ðzÞ
RQ ðzÞ ¼ GG00ð1Þ is the probability generating function of the number of retrial/repeated
customers in the system under the condition that the server is in normal idle-up
state.

123
 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

Thus, under the stability condition, it is shown in (6.2) that the probability
generating function G(z) of the system size, XS , can be expressed as the product of
the probability generating functions for XM=M=1;AB , XM=M=1;PB and XQ which are
given by (6.3), (6.4) and (6.5), respectively. As a consequence, in terms of con-
volution, we can state that
d
XS ¼ XM=M=1;AB þ XM=M=1;PB þ XQ :
h

7 Limit theorem for the system size distribution

The influence of retrial customers is a significant factor in the conventional

queueing models with unreliable servers. Although an explicit expression for the
probability generating function, G(z), of the system size is obtained in (3.25), it is
cumbersome and does not reveal the nature of the distribution. In order to identify
the distribution of the system size for our retrial queueing system, we perform the
asymptotic analysis of the system size under an extreme condition such as low
repair rate, i.e., n ! 0. To this end, we present the following theorem.
 
Theorem 3 If 1 þ ba lk \1, then
8 9
>
> >
>
< g =
1þ   
 >
> a k >> ð7:1Þ
sð1hÞXS 1 : m 1 1þb l ;
lim Eðe Þ¼
n!0 1þs
k
where h ¼ kþn and ReðsÞ [ 0.
The theorem implies that ð1  hÞXS converges weakly to a gamma-distributed
random variable with the scale parameter 1 and shape parameter 1 þ m 1 g1þa k as
½ ð bÞl
h ! 1, i.e., n ! 0.

Proof Recalling that the probability generating function GðzÞ ¼ EðzXS Þ of, XS , the
system size given in (3.25) and taking e ¼ 1  h and substituting z ¼ ees ,
ðReðsÞ [ 0Þ, into (3.25) yields

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Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

Eðesð1hÞXS Þ ¼ EðeesXS Þ
 
     k ð1  pÞð1  ese Þ
n a k
¼ 1 1þ e m
gþn b l
 
ge
 1þ
n½1  ð1  eÞese 
 
 g 1 þ eð1  eÞða þ b  nÞ
e m nð1  ð1  eÞz1 Þð1  ð1  eÞz2 Þ

1  ð1  eÞese
  
 se 1 1 þ ge kð1  z1 Þ þ a þ b
e  z1 m nð1  ð1  eÞz1 Þ z1  z2

1  z1
  
 se  1 1 þ ge kð1  z2 Þ þ a þ b
e  z2 m nð1  ð1  eÞz2 Þ z1  z2

1  z2
 
ese ½kð1  ese Þ þ a þ b
 1þ :
kðese  z1 Þðese  z2 Þ
ð7:2Þ
To find the limit for (7.2) as e ! 0, i.e., n ! 0, we expand ese in powers of e by
using the Taylor’s series. Thus, as e ! 0, i.e., h ! 1, we get

ðseÞ2 ð7:3Þ
ese ¼1  se þ þ oðe3 Þ:
2
Inserting (7.3) on the right-hand side of (7.2), and then taking the limit as e ! 0,
i.e., h ! 1, we get

lim Eðes ð1hÞXS Þ ¼ lim EðeseXS Þ

h!1 e!0
8 9
>
> >
>
< g =
1þ   
 >
> a k >>
1 : m 1 1þ
b l :
;
¼
1þs
Hence (7.1) is proved. h
Remark 2 A similar analysis shows that the random variable ð1  hÞXQ converges
weakly to a gamma-distributed random variable with scale parameter 1 and shape
parameter 1 þ m 1 g1þa k as the repair rate n ! 0.
½ ð bÞl

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 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

8 Numerical illustrations

We now present some numerical results to illustrate graphically, the influence of the
system parameters on the main performance measures, derived in the previous
sections. For all our numerical discussions,
 the system parameter values are chosen
so as to satisfy the stability condition 1 þ ba k
l \1.
In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, we study the behaviour of the joint probability, pð0; 0Þ, of the
server in normal idle-up state and no customer in the orbit, parametrized by three
values of p ¼ 0; 0:5 and 1. The effect of varying retrial rate m and traffic intensity
q ¼ lk on pð0; 0Þ is shown as the surfaces in Fig. 1 for the set of parameters
ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ. We have noticed that the surfaces of pð0; 0Þ increase
rapidly for increasing values of m whereas they decrease for increasing values of q as
is to be expected.
Figure 2 depicts the influence of ðm; lÞ on pð0; 0Þ for the set of parameters
ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ. It is observed that the surfaces of pð0; 0Þ are
increasing drastically for increasing values of both the retrial rate m and the service
rate l. The effects of the failure rates g and a of the server on pð0; 0Þ is displayed in
Fig. 3 for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ. We find that the surfaces of pð0; 0Þ, for
p ¼ 0; 0:5 and 1, display the downward trend against increasing values of ðg; aÞ.
Moreover, in all Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the surfaces of pð0; 0Þ are the increasing function
of the routing probability p.

Fig. 1 pð0; 0Þ versus (q; m) for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ

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Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

Fig. 2 pð0; 0Þ versus ðm; lÞ for ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ

Fig. 3 pð0; 0Þ versus (g; a) for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ

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 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

Fig. 4 E(L) versus (q; m) for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6, we have plotted the trends of the mean of the classical busy
period, E(L), of the system for varying values of the system parameters. Figure 4
indicates that, for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ, surfaces of E(L) decrease for increasing
values of m whereas they increase rapidly for increasing values of q. The impact of
ðm; lÞ on E(L) is displayed clearly in Fig. 5 for the system parameters
ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ. Figure 5 reveals that the surfaces of E(L) decrease
smoothly for increasing values of both m and l whereas they decrease with
increasing values of p. Figure 6 illustrates the influence of the failure rates g and a
on E(L) for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ. Evidently, the surfaces of E(L) are the
increasing functions of both g and a. It is also observed that the surfaces of E(L) are
decreasing with increasing values of p as reflected in Fig. 6.
Figures 7, 8 and 9 describe the trend of the mean number, EðXQ Þ; of customers in
the orbit for varying values of the system parameters. In Fig. 7, the surfaces of
EðXQ Þ decrease gradually for increasing values of m whereas they increase rapidly
with q for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ. Moreover, the surfaces of EðXQ Þ decrease
slowly for increasing values of p. Figure 8 shows that for
ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ, the surfaces of EðXQ Þ are decreasing functions of
ðm; lÞ and further that they decrease against the increasing values of p. As before,
the impact of the failure rates of the server on EðXQ Þ is plotted in Fig. 9. It can be
seen that the surfaces of EðXQ Þ are the increasing functions of both g and a whereas
they decrease for increasing values of p for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ.
Next, Figs. 10, 11 and 12 demonstrate the behaviour of the mean waiting time WS
in the system for the varying values of the system parameters. In Fig. 10, it is

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Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

Fig. 5 E(L) versus (m; l) for ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ

Fig. 6 E(L) versus (g; a) for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ

noticed that for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ, the surfaces of WS decrease for increasing
values of m whereas they increase as q increases. In Fig. 11, we have plotted WS
versus ðm; lÞ for the set of parameters ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ. It is evident that

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 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

Fig. 7 EðXQ Þ versus (q; m) for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ

Fig. 8 EðXQ Þ versus (m; l) for ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ

the surfaces of WS are decreasing functions of both m and l. The effect of the failure
rates g and a of the server on WS is displayed in Fig. 12. We find that for
ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ, the surfaces of WS increase drastically for increasing

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Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

Fig. 9 EðXQ Þ versus (g; a) for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ

Fig. 10 WS versus (q; m) for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ

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 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

Fig. 11 WS versus (m; l) for ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ

Fig. 12 WS versus (g; a) for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ

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Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

Fig. 13 P(XQ ¼ 0Þ=C ¼ 0 versus (q; m) for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ

values of both g and a as is to be expected. Furthermore, from Figs. 10, 11 and 12, it
is observed that the surfaces of WS decrease for increasing values of p.
Our next set of numerical examples deal with the conditional probability,
PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ; of the orbit is empty given that the server is in normal idle-up
state. We plot the surfaces of PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ against the varying values of the
system parameters in Figs. 13, 14 and 15. The effects of varying retrial rate m and
traffic intensity q on PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ is sketched as the surfaces in Fig. 13 for the
set of parameters ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ which show the upward trend of PðXQ ¼
0=C ¼ 0Þ for increasing m values whereas they show downward trend for increasing
q values. In Fig. 14, the variation of PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ with respect to m and l is
depicted for the set of parameters ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ. Here the surfaces
display a sharp upward trend for PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ against increasing values of
both m and l. Figure 15 reveals the trend of surfaces of PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ against
the failure rates g and a for the set of parameters ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ. It is
seen that the surfaces of PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ are decreasing functions of both g and a.
On looking at Figs. 13, 14 and 15, it appears that the surfaces of the conditional
probability PðXQ ¼ 0=C ¼ 0Þ increase gradually for increasing values of p.
We now illustrate the effect of the system parameters on the expected value,
EðOI Þ; of the orbit idle period and the expected value, EðOB Þ; of the orbit busy
period for the retrial queueing system under discussion. In Figs. 16, 17 and 18, we
have plotted EðOI Þ versus different values of the system parameters. A quick look at
Fig. 16 reveals that the surfaces of EðOI Þ increase gradually with increasing values
of p whereas they decrease slowly for increasing values of q for the system

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 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

Fig. 14 P(XQ ¼ 0Þ versus (m; l) for ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ

Fig. 15 P(XQ ¼ 0Þ versus (g; a) for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ

parameters ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ. From Fig. 17, it is clear that the surfaces of
EðOI Þ increase with increasing values of l for ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ. Further,
the surfaces of EðOI Þ increase for increasing values of p as before. The influence of

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Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

Fig. 16 EðOI Þ versus (q; m) for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ

Fig. 17 EðOI Þ versus (m; l) for ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ

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 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

Fig. 18 EðOI Þ versus (g; a) for ðq; n; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 4Þ

the parameter ðg; aÞ on EðOI Þ is sketched in Fig. 18 for ðq; n; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 4Þ.
From Fig. 18, it is evident that the surfaces of EðOI Þ are increasing functions of both
a and p whereas they are decreasing functions of g.
We now turn our attention to the expected value, EðOB Þ; of the orbit busy period
for the different values of p. The impact of m and q on EðOB Þ is sketched in Fig. 19
for the system parameters ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ. Evidently, the surfaces of EðOB Þ
decrease slowly for increasing values of m whereas they increase apparently for
increasing values of q. Figure 20 reveals the behaviour of EðOB Þ as a function of
ðm; lÞ. We have observed that the surfaces of EðOB Þ are decreasing functions of both
m and l and they decrease further for increasing values of p for
ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ. In Fig. 21, the variation of EðOB Þ with respect to g
and a is displayed for the set of parameters ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ. It is seen
that the surfaces of EðOB Þ show a sharp upward trend against the increasing values
of g and a whereas they decrease with p as we expected.
Finally, we compare the expected value, E(L), of the classical busy period and the
expected value, EðOB Þ; of the orbit busy period in Figs. 22, 23 and 24. It is clearly
seen from Fig. 22 that both surfaces of E(L) and EðOB Þ are apparently increasing
functions of q whereas they decrease for increasing m values for the set of
parameters ðg; n; a; b; pÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4; 0:5Þ. Figure 23 reveals that, for
ðk; g; n; a; b; pÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4; 0:5Þ, both the surfaces of E(L) and EðOB Þ decrease
for increasing values of both m and l. In Fig. 24, the trends of E(L) and EðOB Þ with

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Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

Fig. 19 EðOB Þ versus (q; m) for ðg; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4Þ

Fig. 20 EðOB Þ versus (m; l) for ðk; g; n; a; bÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4Þ

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 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

Fig. 21 EðOB Þ versus (g; a) for ðq; n; m; bÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4Þ

Fig. 22 E(L) & EðOB Þ versus (q; m) for ðg; n; a; b; qÞ ¼ ð7; 9; 3; 4; 0:5Þ

respect to g and a are plotted for ðq; n; m; b; pÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4; 0:5Þ. As expected,
both the surfaces of E(L) and EðOB Þ reveal the sharp upward trends against
increasing a and g values.

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Performance analysis of retrial queues with server...

Fig. 23 E(L) & EðOB Þ versus (m; l) for ðk; g; n; a; b; qÞ ¼ ð6; 7; 9; 3; 4; 0:5Þ

Fig. 24 E(L) & EðOB Þ versus (g; a) for ðq; n; m; b; qÞ ¼ ð0:545; 9; 10; 4; 0:5Þ

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 B. Krishna Kumar et al.

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