Queuing Theory

Meaning of Queue or Waiting Line

A queue involves arriving customers who wait to be serviced at the facility which provide the service they want to have.
Customers Arrival Possible waiting line or Queue Getting Services Departure of customers

Terms used in Queuing Theory

Customer: Person or units arriving at a station for service Service station: Point where service is provided Time spent by a customer in the system: Waiting time plus service time Number of customers in the system: Number of customers in the queue and those getting serviced Queue length: Number of customers in queue

Service Systems
Service Mechanism
Single service facility
Queue Service Station

Multiple parallel facilities with single queue

Service Station 1 Queue Service Station 2 Service Station 3

Elements of the Queuing Theory

Service Mechanism
Multiple parallel facilities with multiple queues
Queue Queue Queue Service Station Service Station Service Station

Service Facilities in a series

Queue Service Station Queue Service Station

Queuing Structure
First In First Out (FIFO) Last In First Out (LIFO) Service In Random Order (SIRO) Priority Service

Deterministic Queuing Model

Important formulae concerning Simple Queuing Model

The mean arrival rate is given by Mean inter arrival time is given by 1

Average utilization
=
if > 1, the system would ultimately fail

1, the system works

Important formulae concerning Simple Queuing Model

Average number of customers being serviced in one unit of time at a service station. It is denoted by a Greek letter Average time taken to service a customer
1

Probabilistic Queuing Model

Assumptions
The arrival of customers follow Poisson distribution Service time is distributed exponentially Service is on FIFO basis

e m mn P(n customers during period T ) = n! where m = T

P(no morethanT time needed to service a customer ) = 1 e

Example
On an average 5 customers reach a barbers shop every hour. Determine the probability that exactly 2 customers will reach in a 30 minute period, assuming that arrival follows Poisson distribution.
= 5 customers / hour
T = 30 min = 0.5 hour m = T = 5 0.5 = 2.5 customers e m m n 2.7182.5 2.52 P(2 customers ) = = = 0.257 n! 2!

Example
The manager of a bank observes that on an average 18 customers are served by a cashier in an hour. Assuming that the service time has an exponential distribution, what is the probability that (a)a customer shall be free within 3 min & (b)a customer shall be services in more than 12 mins.
a ) = 18 customers / hour T = 3min = 0.05hour P(less than 3min) = 1 e T = 1 2.718 (18)(0.05) = 0.593 b) T = 12 min = 0.2hour P (morethan12 min) = e T = 2.718 (18)(0.2) = 0.027

Poisson Exponential Single Server Model Infinite Population

Assumptions
The arrival of customers follow Poisson distribution Service time is distributed exponentially Service is on FIFO basis Arrivals are from infinite population There is single service station

Important formulae
Expected number of customers in system
Ls =

Expected number of customers in the queue

2 Lq = ( )

Important formulae
The average waiting time in the queue of an arrival
Wq = ( )

The average time an arrival spends in the system is

1 Ws =

Important formulae
Probability that the customer waits for more that time t in the queue

Wq (t ) = e

t Ws

Probability that customer waits for more than time t in the system
Ws (t ) = e
t Ws

Example
The number of customers approaching the shop appear to be Poisson distributed with a mean of 6 customers per hour. The tailor attends the customer on an FIFO basis and the customer waits if needed to be. The shop can attend the customers at an average rate of 10 customers per hour with service tome exponentially distributed. Find a) The utilization factor b) The probability that system is idle c) Probability that 5 customers are in the queuing system d) Expected no. of customers in queue e) Expected no. of customer in queue f) Expected waiting time in queue g) Expected time customer spends in the system h) Probability that a customer shall wait for more than 10 minutes in system

Solution
G iven = 6 custom ers / hour

= 10 customers / hour
a) =

f ) Wq =

6 = hours = 9 min ( ) 40

6 = = 0.6 10

b ) P0 = 1 = 1 0.6 = 0.4 c ) Pn = n (1 ) = (0.6) 5 (1 0.6) = 0.0311 d ) Ls =

1 1 1 g ) Ws = = = hr = 15 min 10 6 4
t Ws 10 15

h) Ws (t ) = e

= 2.718

= 0.31

6 = 1.5 10 6

2 62 e ) Lq = = = 0.9 ( ) 10(10 6)