QUEUEING THEORY

Mendoza, Regine
Nisnisan, Abbey
Perez, Kristyn

Outline
Queueing Theory
Common Queueing Situations
Basic Queueing Process

Queueing Models
Notations and Equations
Sample Problems

Queueing Theory
The study of queues deals with quantifying the
phenomenon of waiting in lines using representative
measures of performance, such as average queue
length, average waiting time in queue and average
facility utilization.
It uses queuing models to represent the various types of
queuing systems that arises in practice.

Queue

is waiting line of customers requiring service from one

or more servers. A queue forms whenever existing
demand exceeds the existing capacity of the service
facility; that is whenever arriving customers cannot
receive immediate service due to busy servers.

Common Queueing Situations

SITUATION

ARRIVALS IN
QUEUE

SERVICE PROCESS

Supermarket

Grocery shoppers

Checkout clerks
at cash register

Highway toll booth

Automobiles

Collection of tolls at
booth

Doctors clinic

Patients

Treatment by doctors
and nurses

Computer System

Programs to be run

Computer processes
jobs

Telephone Company

Callers

Switching equipment
forward calls

Bank

Customers

Transactions handled
by teller

Machine maintenance

Broken machines

Repair, people to fix

Machines

The Customers

Waiting Line

Service Facility

Queueing Models

Single-Channel with Poisson Arrivals and Exponential Service

Times (M/M/1)
- Arrivals form a single line to be serviced by a single station

Following conditions exist in this type of system:

1. Arrivals are served on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis, and every arrival
waits to be served, regardless of the length of the line or queue.
2. Arrivals are independent of previous arrivals, but the average number of
arrivals (arrival rate) does not change over time.
3. Arrivals are described by a Poisson probability distribution and come from
an infinite (or very, very large) population.
4. Service times vary from one customer to the next and are independent of
one another, but their average rate is known.
5. Service times occur according to the negative exponential probability
distribution.
6. The service rate is faster than the arrival rate.

Queueing Models

Multiple-Channel Queuing Model (M/M/S)

- Two or more servers or channels are available to handle arriving
customers

Constant-Service-Time Model (M/D/1)

- It is appropriate when customers or equipment are processed
according to a fixed cycle, as in the case of an automatic car wash
or an amusement park ride

Limited-Population Model (M/D/1)

- This model would be used, for example, if we were in charge of
maintenance for a fleet of 10 commuter airplanes, or if we ran a
hospital ward that has 20 beds.
- It allows number of repair people (servers) to be considered.

Notations

L
W
Lq
Wq

Po
Pn

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

Equations

Mean number of arrivals per time period.

Mean number of units served per time period.
Average number of customers in the system.
Average waiting time of a customer in the system.
Average number of customers in the queue.
Average waiting time of a customer in the queue.
Probability that are arriving customers has to wait for service.
Probability of no customers in the system.
Probability of n units in the system.

Sample Problems

1.) Tom Jones, the mechanic at Golden Muffler Shop, is able to

install new mufflers at an average rate of 3 per hour (or about 1
every 20 minutes), according to a negative exponential
distribution. Customers seeking this service arrive at the shop
on the average of 2 per hour, following a Poisson distribution.
They are served on a first-in, first-out basis and come from a
very large (almost infinite) population of possible buyers. From
this description, we are able to obtain the operating
characteristics of Golden Mufflers queuing system:

Sample Problems

Sample Problems

= 1 hour average waiting time in the system

c.) Average number of customers in the waiting line

Sample Problems
d.) Average waiting time in the queue

e.) Probability that are arriving customer has to wait for

service

Sample Problems
f.) Probability that there are no customers in the system

Sample Problems

2.) Customers arrive at an ATM machine at an average rate of 20 per hour

(assume the arrivals rate is described by a Poisson distribution). The
amount of time they spend at the machine takes on average two minutes,
but can vary from customer to customer (assume negative exponential
distribution).
a.) Calculate the average number of customers in the system
b.) Calculate the average time they spend in the system
c.) Calculate the average number of customers in the queue
d.) Calculate the average time spent in the queue
e.) Calculate the percentage of the time of the machine is idle

Sample Problems
Given:

Answers:
a.) Average number of customers in the system

Sample Problems
b.) Average time they spend in the system

c.) Calculate the average number of customers in the

queue

Sample Problems
d.) Calculate the average time spent in the queue

e.) Calculate the percentage of the time of the machine is

idle

END OF PRESENTATION