Application of the Diffusion Approximation to Queueing Networks II: Nonequilibrium Distributions and Applications to Computer Modeling

Abstract

Quite often explicit information about the behavior of a queue over a fairly short period is wanted. This requires solving the nonequilibrium solution of the queue-length distribution, which is usually quite difficult mathematically. The first half of Part II shows how the diffusion process approximation can be used to answer this question. A transient solution is obtained for a cyclic queueing model using the technique of eigenfunction expansion. The second half of Part II applies the earlier results of Part I to modeling and performance problems of a typical multiprogrammed computer system. Such performance measures as utilization, throughput, response time and its distribution, etc., are discussed in some detail.