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 Vladimir V. Rykov · Nozer D. Singpurwalla
Andrey M. Zubkov (Eds.)

Analytical and
LNCS 10684

Computational Methods
in Probability Theory
First International Conference, ACMPT 2017
Moscow, Russia, October 23–27, 2017
Proceedings

123
Lecture Notes in Computer Science 10684
Commenced Publication in 1973
Founding and Former Series Editors:
Gerhard Goos, Juris Hartmanis, and Jan van Leeuwen

Editorial Board
David Hutchison
Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
Takeo Kanade
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Josef Kittler
University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
Jon M. Kleinberg
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Friedemann Mattern
ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
John C. Mitchell
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Moni Naor
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
C. Pandu Rangan
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India
Bernhard Steffen
TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany
Demetri Terzopoulos
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Doug Tygar
University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken, Germany
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7407
Vladimir V. Rykov Nozer D. Singpurwalla
•

Andrey M. Zubkov (Eds.)

Analytical and
Computational Methods
in Probability Theory
First International Conference, ACMPT 2017
Moscow, Russia, October 23–27, 2017
Proceedings

123
Editors
Vladimir V. Rykov Andrey M. Zubkov
Department of Applied Mathematics Trudy Matematicheskogo Instituta
RUDN University Imeni VA Steklova
Moscow Moscow
Russia Russia
Nozer D. Singpurwalla
City University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong

ISSN 0302-9743 ISSN 1611-3349 (electronic)

Lecture Notes in Computer Science
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 Preface

This volume contains a selection of papers based on talks presented at the conference
titled “Analytical and Computational Methods in Probability Theory and its Applica-
tions (ACMPT)” held in Moscow (Russia) October 23–27, 2017. The conference was
dedicated to the memory of an outstanding Soviet mathematician, Alexander
Dmitrievich Soloviev.
The aim of the conference was to provide a platform and a forum for researchers and
investigators from academia, government, and industry, and from a host of countries
working in applied probability and mathematical statistics.
The Organizing Committee of ACMPT received 173 submissions from authors
residing in 27 countries. From these submissions 147 were accepted for presentation,
and 56 submissions were selected by the Program Committee to be reviewed for
inclusion in this proceedings volume. As a result of the additional review, 42 full
papers were finally selected for publication. All papers selected for the proceedings are
in the format presented by the authors. The contributions were deemed to be of interest
to investigators working in the field of analytical and computer methods of probability
theory and their applications to queueing theory, stochastic networks, reliability theory,
risk, insurance models, and statistical theory.
The conference program consisted of four main themes associated with significant
contributions made by A. D. Soloviev:
• Analytical methods in probability theory
• Computational methods in probability theory
• Asymptotical methods in probability theory
• History of mathematics
However, the papers in this volume are categorized in four parts according to the
following areas of application.
• Part 1. Queueing theory and stochastic networks
• Part 2. Reliability theory, risk analysis, insurance and financial mathematics
• Part 3. Asymptotic methods and limit theorems
• Part 4. Statistical methods and applications
Papers are arranged within each part depending on their time of submission.
All papers were carefully reviewed by the members of international Program
and Organizing Committees and other independent reviewers.
At the conference, both mathematical intensive papers with full proofs and applied
works pertaining to model constructions that were written at an intuitive engineering
level were presented. The editors felt it prudent to include both kinds of papers in this
volume.
VI Preface

We thank all the authors for their interest in the ACMPT Conference, which was
organized with the support of the RUDN University Program 5-100. We thank the
members of the Program Committee for their contributions, and the reviewers for their
efforts as well as Springer for its support of the conference. Our special gratitude to
Dr. Dmitry Kozyrev whose tremendous work has resulted in the preparation of this
volume for printing.

October 2017 V. Rykov

Nozer D. Singpurwalla
A. Zubkov
 Organization

ACMPT 2017 was jointly organized by the Lomonosov Moscow State University
and the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University).

International Program Committee

Vladimir Filippov (Co-chair) RUDN University, Russia
Albert Shiryaev (Co-chair) Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Larisa Afanas’eva Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Alexander Andronov Transport and Telecommunication Institute,
Latvia
Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan McMaster University, Canada
Yuri Belyaev Umea Universitet, Sweden
Alexander Bulinski Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Boyan Dimitrov Kettering University, USA
Stanislaw Domoradzki University of Rzeszow, Poland
Alexander Dudin Belarusian State University, Belarus
Maxim Finkelstein University of Free State, Republic
of South Africa
Sergey Foss Heriot-Watt University, UK
Erol Gelenbe Imperial College London, UK
Waltraud Kahle Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg,
Germany
Victor Kashtanov HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics
and Mathematics (MIEM HSE), Russia
Yuriy Kharin Belarusian State University, Belarus
Nikolai Kolev Universidade de Saõ Paulo, Brazil
Victor Korolev Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Udo Krieger Universität Bamberg, Germany
Achyutha Krishnamoorthy Cochin University of Science and Technology,
India
Evgeny Kucheryavy Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Laszlo Lakatos Budapest University, Hungary
Boris Lemeshko Novosibirsk State Technical University, Russia
Nikolaos Limnios Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France
Anatoly Lisnianski Israel Electric Corporation Ltd., Israel
Vadim Malyshev Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Mounir Mesbah Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, France
Krishna Misra Indian Institute of Technology, India
Evsei Morozov Institute of Applied Mathematical Research of the
Karelian Research Centre RAS, Russia
VIII Organization

Anatoly Nazarov Tomsk State University, Russia

Vladimir Rykov
Nikolai Severtsev
Nozer Singpurwalla
Kazuyuki Suzuki
Alexander Veretennikov
Andrey Zubkov
Mykhailo Yastrebenetsky
RUDN University, Russia
Federal Research Center “Computer Science
and Control” of Russian Academy of Sciences,
Russia
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong,
SAR China
University of Electro-Communications, Japan
University of Leeds, UK
Steklov Mathematical Institute of RAS, Russia
State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear
and Radiation Safety (SSTC NRS), Ukraine

Organizing Committee
Vladimir Chubarikov (Co-chair) Lomonosov Moscow State University
Konstantin Samouylov (Co-chair) RUDN University
Sergey Demidov (Vice-chair) Lomonosov Moscow State University
Victor Korolev (Vice-chair) Lomonosov Moscow State University
Andrey Zubkov (Vice-chair) Steklov Mathematical Institute of RAS
Alexander Bochkov LLC NIIGAZECONOMIKA (Economics
and Management Science in Gas Industry
Research Institute)
Ekaterina Bulinskaya Lomonosov Moscow State University
Evgeniy Chepurin Lomonosov Moscow State University
Dmitry Gnedenko Lomonosov Moscow State University
Gennady Falin Lomonosov Moscow State University
Vasily Kozlov Lomonosov Moscow State University
Dmitry Kozyrev RUDN University
Alexey Lebedev Lomonosov Moscow State University
Svetlana Petrova Lomonosov Moscow State University
Vladimir Rykov RUDN University
Leonid Sevastyanov RUDN University
Andrey Shkalikov Lomonosov Moscow State University
Sergey Shorgin Institute of Informatics Problems, FRC CSC RAS
Vasily Ushakov Lomonosov Moscow State University
Oleg Vinogradov Lomonosov Moscow State University
Vladimir Vishnevsky V. A. Trapeznikov Institute of Control Sciences
of RAS
Galina Zverkina Russian University of Transport - RUT MIIT
 Organization IX

Conference Partners

The conference was organized under the auspices of the Moscow Mathematical
Society.
The conference was held in the framework of the RUDN University Competitive-
ness Enhancement Program 5-100.
The Gnedenko Forum provided support.
 Contents

A. D. Soloviev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
D. B. Gnedenko, S. S. Demidov, A. M. Zubkov, and V. A. Kashtanov

Queueing Models and Stochastic Networks

The Analysis of Cloud Computing System as a Queueing System

with Several Servers and a Single Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Ivan Zaryadov, Andrey Kradenyh, and Anastasiya Gorbunova

Analysis of K-Capacity Queueing System

with Two-Heterogeneous Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
H. Okan Isguder and Umay Uzunoglu Kocer

Fluid Limit for Closed Queueing Network with Several Multi-servers . . . . . . 31

Svetlana Anulova

Stationarity Conditions for the Control Systems that Provide Service

to the Conflicting Batch Poisson Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Maria Rachinskaya and Mikhail Fedotkin

Transient Analysis of a Multi-server Queuing Model with Discouraged

Arrivals and Retention of Reneging Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Rakesh Kumar and Sapana Sharma

Priority Management in a Semi-Markov Queuing Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

O. B. Zaytseva and E. V. Kondrashova

Optimal Antivirus Protection Strategy in Computer Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Yulia Grishunina and Larisa Manita

Necessary Conditions for the Existence of Stationary Distribution

in the Adaptive Control System of Conflict Flows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Mikhail Fedotkin and Evgeniy Kudryavtsev

One Server Queue with Bulk Arrivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

A. D. Soloviev and V. N. Sobolev

Priority Systems with Orientation. Analytical and Numerical Results . . . . . . . 109

Gheorghe Mishkoy

Discrete Gamma Approximation in Retrial Queue MMPP/M/1

Based on Moments Calculation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Ekaterina Fedorova, Anatoly Nazarov, and Svetlana Paul
XII Contents

Inventory Management System with On/Off Control of Output

Product Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Anatoly Nazarov and Valentina Broner

On a Multi-server Priority Queue with Preemption in Crowdsourcing . . . . . . 145

A. Krishnamoorthy, Dhanya Shajin, and A. S. Manjunath

MAP/PH/1 Retrial Queueing-Inventory System with Orbital Search

and Reneging of Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
A. Krishnamoorthy and Dhanya Shajin

Analysis of a Wireless Sensor Node with Varying Rates of Energy

Harvesting and Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Alexander Dudin, Sergey Dudin, Olga Dudina,
and Chesoong Kim

Infinite Order Systems of Differential Equations and Large Scale

Random Neural Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Soltan K. Kanzitdinov and Sergey A. Vasilyev

Reliability, Risk, Insurance

On Reliability Function of a Parallel System with Three

Renewable Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
A. M. Andronov, V. V. Rykov, and V. M. Vishnevsky

Analysis of Renewable Reliability Systems by Markovization Method . . . . . . 210

V. V. Rykov and D. V. Kozyrev

New Applied Probability Models and Their Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Ekaterina Bulinskaya

Analytic-Numerical Investigations of Singular Problems for Survival

Probability in the Dual Risk Model with Simple Investment Strategies . . . . . 236
T. A. Belkina, N. B. Konyukhova, and B. V. Slavko

Asymptotic Behavior of Reliability Function for Multidimensional

Aggregated Weibull Type Reliability Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Julia Farkas, Enkelejd Hashorva, and Vladimir I. Piterbarg

Sensitivity Analysis of Reliability and Performability Measures

for a Multi-server Queueing System with Constant Retrial Rate . . . . . . . . . . 265
Dmitry Efrosinin

Bivariate Teissier Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Nikolai Kolev, Ngo Ngoc, and Yang Ting Ju
 Contents XIII

Analytical Methods and Limit Theorems

Weighted Entropy and its Use in Computer Science and Beyond . . . . . . . . . 293
Mark Kelbert, Izabella Stuhl, and Yuri Suhov

Selected Data Compression: A Refinement of Shannon’s Principle . . . . . . . . 309

Yuri Suhov and Izabella Stuhl

On the Estimates in the Lindeberg-Feller’s Limit Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Shakir Formanov

Number of Pairs of Template Matchings in q-ary Tree with Randomly

Marked Vertices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Vasiliy Kruglov and Andrey Zubkov

Limit Distributions in Stochastic Networks

with Message-Passing Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Anatoly Manita

Stochastic Time Synchronization Models Based

on Agreement Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Larisa Manita and Anatoly Manita

Algorithms of Inertial Mirror Descent in Stochastic Convex

Optimization Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Alexander Nazin

Security Models Based on Stochastic Meta Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Alexander Grusho, Elena Timonina, and Sergey Shorgin

Branching Random Walks with Immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Dan Han, Yulia Makarova, Stanislav Molchanov,
and Elena Yarovaya

An Invariance Principle for Additive Functionals

of Semi-Markov Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Adina Oprisan

Probabilistic Algorithms for Numerical Construction of Classical

Solutions to the Cauchy Problem for Nonlinear Parabolic Systems . . . . . . . . 421
Yana Belopolskaya and Anastasija Stepanova

Some Extensions of Alternating Series Test and Its Applications. . . . . . . . . . 435

Galina Zverkina

Quantum-Semiclassical Calculation of Transition Probabilities

in Antiproton Collisions with Helium Ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Vladimir S. Melezhik and Leonid A. Sevastianov
XIV Contents

Application of Homogeneity Tests: Problems and Solution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

Boris Yu. Lemeshko, Irina V. Veretelnikova,
Stanislav B. Lemeshko, and Alena Yu. Novikova

Algorithm of Exact Computation of Decomposable Statistics

Distributions and Its Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
Marina Filina and Andrey Zubkov

Statistical Analysis of Big Data Based on Parsimonious Models

of High-Order Markov Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Yu. S. Kharin

The HRD-Algorithm: A General Method for Parametric Estimation

of Two-Component Mixture Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Yuri Belyaev, David Källberg, and Patrik Rydén

On Robust Sequential Parameters Estimating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Ivan Tsitovich

Adapted Statistical Experiments with Random Change of Time . . . . . . . . . . 523

D. Koroliouk and V. S. Koroliuk

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

 A. D. Soloviev

D. B. Gnedenko2 , S. S. Demidov2 , A. M. Zubkov1(B) , and V. A. Kashtanov3

1
Steklov Mathematical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
zubkov@mi.ras.ru
2
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
dmitry@gnedenko.com, serd42@mail.ru
3
HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM HSE),
Moscow, Russia
kashtan@miem.edu.ru

Abstract. Aleksander Dmitrievich Soloviev was an outstanding Rus-

sian mathematician. He had developed an efficient methods in the math-
ematical reliability theory and in the theory of queues. This paper con-
tains a short account of his life and work.

Aleksander Dmitrievich Soloviev was born in Moscow, in a family of doctors.

He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Lomonosov
Moscow State University in 1951, and all his subsequent scientific life was related
to this faculty: the postgraduate education (under the guidance of A. O. Gelfond
(1906–1968)), teaching as an assistant, an assistant professor from 1958 (see [14])
and a professor from 1975. A. D. had conferred the candidate degree of physical
and mathematical sciences in 1955, the theme of his thesis [88] (see also [1–3])
was “The moment problems for entire analytic functions”. He had possessed
an outstanding analytical technique and phenomenal mastery of mathematical
analysis.
At the end of the 1950s A. D. under the influence of B. V. Gnedenko
became interested in applied problems of probability theory. The first paper
on the mathematical reliability theory was published by A. D. Soloviev in 1962
[4]; a number of his mathematical papers were published in applied journals
[5–11,13,15,16,18,19,21,26–28,36,37,44]. It was a result of intense work on
applied engineering (mainly radioengineering) problems. In the beginning
of the 60-ies a remarkable scientific group consisted of B. V. Gnedenko,
Yu. K. Belyaev and A. D. Soloviev was formed. Members of this team (orga-
nized by B. V. Gnedenko) complements each other: Yu. K. Belyaev was inter-
ested in statistical problems, in particular, connected with the quality control,
and A. D. Soloviev became a specialist in the rigorous statement and solution of
mathematical problems encountered by practicing engineers.
This group of mathematicians became a founders of the Soviet scientific
school on reliability and queueing systems. They ran a weekly seminar on the
mathematical reliability theory at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics
of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. In the late 1960s the “Reliability
c Springer International Publishing AG 2017
V. V. Rykov et al. (Eds.): ACMPT 2017, LNCS 10684, pp. 1–8, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71504-9_1
2 D. B. Gnedenko et al.

Cabinet” at the Moscow Polytechnic Museum was organized which became a

base for lecture cycles on reliability for engineers, for the seminar on the reli-
ability and product quality control and for the consulting mathematical centre
for practical researchers from the whole USSR. The materials of the lectures
were published in brochures (up to 100 pages) by the publishing house Znanie
(Knowledge) [25,42,50,56,57,71]. These were reviews of rigorous mathematical
methods in the reliability theory adapted to the audience. Communications with
engineers helped to select the actual research areas with non-trivial mathemati-
cal problems.
In 1965 Belyaev et al. had published a book “Mathematical Methods in
Reliability Theory” [12] summarizing the state of art of mathematical reliability
theory. The chapters on the analytical methods were written by A. D. Soloviev.
This book was translated into many languages and became a milestone in the
development of the mathematical theory of reliability.
In the following years the scientific work of A. D. Soloviev were connected with
elaboration of neat analytical methods which may be applied to hard problems
of reliability and queueing theory (see, e.g., [17,20,22,23,32,35]). These methods
were tuned on different types of repairable systems.
One of the main problems in estimating the reliability is the computation of
the failure probability of a system on a given interval of time. From a general
viewpoint it is a problem on the time of the first occurrence of a rare events in
a specific regenerative random processes. A. D. Soloviev had developed:
– an asymptotic theory permitting to effectively evaluate the reliability charac-
teristics of the repairable systems [29,31,34,40,41,53,54,61,62,66–68,73,74,
76–81],
– methods of derivation of two-sided inequalities for reliability characteris-
tics which asymptotically coincide with the formulas in corresponding limit
theorems [45–47,60,72],
– methods of estimating the reliability of repairable systems with slowly varying
parameters under different maintenance disciplines and optimization of such
disciplines [30,38,39,43,48,49,51,52,63,64],
– methods of estimating the average lifetime of repairable systems with high
redundancy [16,70,82].
In 1972 A. D. Soloviev had been conferred the degree of Doctor of physical and
mathematical sciences; the theme of his doctoral thesis [89] was “Queuing sys-
tems with fast service”. Despite the “applied” title, the thesis is actually devoted
to elegant analytical methods in probabilistic problems. A remarkable feature of
almost all limit theorems included in the thesis was their “uniform” form, i. e.
the limits were considered over all initial distributions and parameters such that
some functional of these distributions and parameters tends to zero. Moreover,
the conditions of each limit theorem are effective, i. e. expressed explicitly and
fairly simply through the initial characteristics.
In the concentrated form the theory and methods elaborated by
A. D. Soloviev were set forth in his chapter of the monograph “Aspects of math-
ematical reliability theory” [58] published in 1983 in Russian see also [59,65].
 A. D. Soloviev 3

Together with a group of colleagues he had received in 1979 the USSR State
award for the development of the reliability theory.
A. D. Soloviev was an excellent teacher. His lectures on mathematical analy-
sis, asymptotic methods, probability theory and realiability theory contained
examples of the use of beatiful analytical techniques for obtaining concrete
results and became a true school of excellent mathematical mastery for sev-
eral generations of pure and applied mathematicians. In 1999 he was awarded
the title of Honorary Professor of Moscow University.
It is seen from the list of references at the end of the present notes that
Alexander Dmitrievich had combine his research on reliability theory with the
training of graduate students (see a number of papers from [38] to [82]). More
than 30 of his students (not only from the Soviet Union, but from several other
countries also) had received their candidate (Ph.D.) degrees, some of them fur-
ther became doctors of sciences. Alexander Dmitrievich spent a lot of time talk-
ing with graduate students, showing the ways of solving the problems, correcting
mistakes; he was generous in the transfer of knowledge and new results.
In addition to research on reliability theory A. D. Soloviev published several
in-depth articles on the history of probability theory and mathematical analysis
[33,55,69,75,83–87].
Being a person of inspiring kindness and openness, he was yet very strict
when it came to judging importance of scientific results (e.g., [24]), no matter
who the author was. For many years he was an expert of the Highest Attestation
Commission (VAK) of the USSR and a member of the Dissertation Councils
at the Moscow University and at the Institute for the History of Science and
Technology of the Academy of Sciences.
The outstanding mathematician and teacher, A. D. Soloviev was one of the
brightest persons in the Russian mathematical life in the second half of the XX
century.

References
1. Evgrafov, M.A., Soloviev, A.D.: On a general criterion for a basis. Dokl. Akad.
Nauk SSSR 113(3), 493–496 (1957). (in Russian)
2. Soloviev, A.D.: Determination of the class of convergence of interpolation series for
certain problems. Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 113(5), 991–994 (1957). (in Russian)
3. Evgrafov, M.A., Soloviev, A.D.: On a class of reversible operators in a ring of
analytic functions. Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 114(6), 1153–1154 (1957). (in Russian)
4. Soloviev, A.D.: On the necessary redundancy for multiple-acting systems. Izvestiya
AN SSSR Ser. Energ. Autom. 2, 124–129 (1962)
5. Soloviev, A.D.: Time distribution of total operating time. Voprosy Radioelectroniki
XII(7), 3–8 (1964). (in Russian)
6. Soloviev, A.D.: Some non-standard problems from the redundancy theory. Voprosy
Radioelectroniki XII(7), 29–39 (1964). (in Russian)
7. Soloviev, A.D.: Methods of computation the efficiency of branching systems.
Voprosy Radioelectroniki XII(31), 106–114 (1964)
8. Soloviev, A.D.: On the redundant systems without recovery. In: Kibernetiku na
slujbu kommunizmu, vol. 2, pp. 83–121. Energija, Moscow-Leningrad (1964). (in
Russian)
4 D. B. Gnedenko et al.

9. Soloviev, A.D.: Reliability of systems with recovery. In: Kibernetiku na slujbu kom-
munizmu, vol. 2, pp. 189–193. Energija, Moscow-Leningrad (1964). (in Russian)
10. Mirnyi, R.A., Soloviev, A.D.: System reliability estimation based on the results of
its components testing. In: Kibernetiku na slujbu kommunizmu, vol. 2, pp. 213–
218. Energija, Moscow-Leningrad (1964). (in Russian)
11. Soloviev, A.D.: Asymptotic distribution of the life time of a doubled element. Izv.
Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 5, 119–121 (1964). (in Russian)
12. Belyaev, Y.K., Gnedenko, B.V., Soloviev, A.D.: Mathematical Methods in Relia-
bility Theory, Moscow, Nauka (1965) (in Russian). Translations: Mathematische
Methoden der Zuverlässigkeitstheorie, Berlin, Academie-Verlag, B.I, 1-222. B.II, 1-
262 (1968) (in German). Metody matematiczne w teorii nezavodnosci, Warszawa
(1968) (in Polish). Metode matematice in teoria sigurantei, Bucuresti (1968) (in
Romanian). Mathematical Methods of Reliability Theory, New York, Academic
Press xi+506 pp. (1969) (in English). A megbizhatosagelmelet matematikai mod-
szerei, Budapest (1970) (in Hungarian). Mathematical Methods of Reliability The-
ory, vols. 1, 2 (1971) (in Japanese). Méthodes Mathéatiques dans la Théorie de la
Fiabilité, Moscow, Mir (1972) (in French)
13. Soloviev, A.D.: A bursting problem. Voprosy ekspluatacii radiotehnicheckih sredstv
voenno-vozdushnyh sil, vol. 1116, pp. 79–100. N. E. Zukovskii Military Air Engineer
Academy, Moscow (1965). (in Russian)
14. Soloviev, A.D.: Educational and methodical manual on the theme “Series” of the
mathematical analysis course (for part-time second-year students of the mechani-
cal and mathematical faculties of state universities), 2nd edn. Moscow University
Publications, Moscow (1965). (in Russian)
15. Soloviev, A.D.: Estimate of the reliability of the redundant system with recovery
at the initial period of time. Voprosy Radioelektroniki Ser XII 13, 16–23 (1966).
(in Russian)
16. Soloviev, A.D., Ushakov, I.A.: On the estimate of the mean life time of the system
consisting of aging elements. Voprosy Radioelektroniki Ser XII 13, 56–64 (1966).
(in Russian)
17. Soloviev, A.D.: A combinatorial identity and its application to the problem con-
cerning the first occurrence of a rare event. Theory Probab. Appl. 11(2), 276–282
(1966). [Translated from Teoriya Veroyatn. i ee Primen. XI(2), 313–320 (1966).
(in Russian)]
18. Soloviev, A.D.: A construction of the optimal preventions for a redundant system.
In: Applied Problems of Technical Cybernetics, pp. 182–190. Sovetskoe Radio,
Moscow (1966). (in Russian)
19. Soloviev, A.D.: A problem on the cycling service. In: Applied Problems of Technical
Cybernetics, pp. 230–234. Sovetskoe Radio, Moscow (1966). (in Russian)
20. An asymptotic method in the queueing theory. In: Abstracts of short communica-
tions of International Congress of Mathematicians, Moscow, sect. 11:52 (1966)
21. Soloviev, A.D., Ushakov, I.A.: Certain estimates for systems of “aging” elements.
Avtomat. i Vycisl. Tehn. 6, 38–44 (1967). (in Russian)
22. Belyaev, Y.K., Gnedenko, B.V., Soloviev, A.D.: On some stochastic problems of
reliability theory. In: Proceedings of the Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical
Statistics and Probability, vol. 3, pp. 259–270. University of California Press (1967)
23. Soloviev, A.D.: Theory of aging elements. In: Proceedings of the Berkeley Sympo-
sium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability, vol. 3, pp. 313–324. University
of California Press (1967)
 A. D. Soloviev 5

24. Soloviev, A.D.: Addendum: a method for obtaining estimates of the expectation of
a function of the components of an n-dimensional vector (on the paper by Korzik
V. I.). Theory Probab. Appl. 11(3) (1966). [translated from Teoriya Veroyatn. i ee
Primen. 12(3), 529 (1967). (in Russian)]
25. Soloviev, A.D.: Heuristic Derivation of Reliability Characteristics of Redundant
Systems with fast Recovering. (Lectures Read in the Polytechnic Museum at the
Seminar on the Reliability and Quality Control Methods). Znanie, Moscow (1968).
(in Russian)
26. Soloviev, A.D.: On some necessary elements in the mathematical education of
engineers. Sbornik nauchnyh statei, Riga, Alksnis RVVIAU 4, 17–22 (1969). (in
Russian)
27. Soloviev, A.D.: Application of the Markov processes to the reliability estimates of
large systems. Sbornik nauchnyh statei, Riga, Alksnis RVVIAU 4, 17–22 (1969).
(in Russian)
28. Soloviev, A.D.: Methods of non-Markovian processes analysis. Sbornik nauchnyh
statei, Riga, Alksnis RVVIAU 4, 17–22 (1969). (in Russian)
29. Soloviev, A.D.: Standby with rapid renewal. Eng. Cybern. 1, 49–64 (1970). [Trans-
lated from Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 1, 56–71 (1970). (in Russian)]
30. Soloviev, A.D.: The problem of optimal servicing. Eng. Cybern. 8(5), 859–868
(1970). [Translated from Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 5, pp. 40–49
(1970). (in Russian)]
31. Soloviev, A.D.: Asymptotic behavior of the time of first occurrence of a rare event
in a regenerating process. Eng. Cybern. 9(6), 1038–1048 (1972). [Translated from
Russian Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 6, pp. 79–89 (1971). (in Russian)]
32. Soloviev, A.D.: Asymptotic distribution of the moment of first crossing of a high
level by a birth and death process. In: Proceedings of the Berkeley Symposium on
Mathematical Statistics and Probability, vol. 3, pp. 71–86. University of California
Press (1972)
33. Beljaev, Y.K., Kolmogorov, A.N., Soloviev, A.D.: Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko
(on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday). Uspehi Mat. Nauk 27(2)(164), 197–202
(1972). (in Russian)
34. Soloviev, A.D.: A limit theorem for the renewal process. Sbornik trudov II Vseso-
juzn. sovesch. po teorii massovogo obslujivaniya, Dilijan, 1970, pp. 122–130.
Moscow University Publications (1972). (in Russian)
35. Gnedenko, B.V., Soloviev, A.D.: On the conditions of existence of final probabilities
for a Markov process. Math. Operationsforsch. u. Stat. 4(5), 379–390 (1973). (in
Russian)
36. Soloviev, A.D.: The theory of aging objects and its application in boundary theo-
rems. Zagadnienia eksploatacii maszyn 2(14) (1973). (in Polish)
37. Soloviev, A.D.: Methods of optimal machine maintenance. Zagadnienia eksploatacii
maszyn 2(14) (1973). (in Polish)
38. Gnedenko, D.B., Soloviev, A.D.: A general model for standby with renewal. Eng.
Cybern. 12(6), 82–86 (1974). [Translated from Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kiber-
net. 6, 113–118 (1974). (in Russian)]
39. Zaitsev, V.A., Soloviev, A.D.: Standby with incomplete renewal. Eng. Cybern.
13(1), 58–62 (1975). [Translated from Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 1,
72–76 (1975). (in Russian)]
40. Gnedenko, D.B., Soloviev, A.D.: Estimation of the reliability of complex renewable
systems. Eng. Cybern. 13(3), 89–96 (1975). [Translated from Izv. Akad. Nauk
SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 3, 121–128 (1975). (in Russian)]
6 D. B. Gnedenko et al.

41. Zaitsev, V.A., Soloviev, A.D.: Redundancy of complex systems. Eng. Cybern.
13(4), 66–75 (1975). [Translated from Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet.
4, 83–92 (1975). (in Russian)]
42. Soloviev, A.D.: Fundamentals of mathematical reliability theory. Issues 1, 2, 3.
Znanie, Moscow (1975). (in Russian)
43. Ovchinnikov, V.N., Soloviev, A.D.: Asymptotical analysis of post failure reliability
characteristics. Ttudy III Vsesojuzn. shkoly-sovesch. po teorii massovogo obsluji-
vaniya, t.1, pp. 211–219. Moscow University Publications (1976). (in Russian)
44. Gruszczynski, J., Solowiew, A.D.: Methods for the optimization of queueing in an
industrial park. Mat. Stos. 7(3), 71–80 (1976). (in Polish)
45. Soloviev, A.D., Sakhobov, O.: Two-sided estimates of the reliability of repairable
systems. Izv. Akad. Nauk UzSSR. Ser. Fiz. Mat. Nauk. 5, 28–33 (1976). (in Rus-
sian)
46. Sakhobov, O., Soloviev, A.D.: Two-sided estimates of reliability in a general
standby model with one renewal unit. Eng. Cybern. 15(4), 58–63 (1978). [Trans-
lated from Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 4, 94–99 (1977). (in Russian)]
47. Soloviev, A.D., Sahobov, O.: Two-sided estimates for the probability of the failure
of a system over a single period of regeneration. Izv. Akad. Nauk UzSSR. Ser. Fiz.
Mat. Nauk. 2, 41–46 (1977). (in Russian)
48. Kozlov, V.V., Soloviev, A.D.: Optimal servicing of renewable systems. I. Izv. Akad.
Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 3, 79–84 (1978). (in Russian)
49. Kozlov, V.V., Soloviev, A.D.: Optimal servicing of renewable systems. II. Izv. Akad.
Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 4, 75–80 (1978). (in Russian)
50. Soloviev, A.D.: Computation and Estimation of Reliability Characteristics. Znanie,
Moscow (1975). (In Russian)
51. Pechinkin, A.V., Soloviev, A.D., Yashkov, S.F.: A system with servicing discipline
whereby the order of minimum remaining length is serviced first. Izv. Akad. Nauk
SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 5, 51–58 (1979). (in Russian)
52. Soloviev, A.D.: Analysis of the system M |G|1|∞ for different service disciplines.
Teoriya massovogo obslujivaniyaiva. Trudy vsesojuznoi shkoly-seminara. Zagul’ba,
1978. VNIISI, Moscow, pp. 172–178 (1981). (in Russian)
53. Zamyatin, A.A., Soloviev, A.D.: The asymptotic behavior of a servicing process in
a single-channel system under conditions of a critical load. Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR.
Tehn. Kibernet. 4, 115–119 (1981). (in Russian)
54. Soloviev, A.D., Shakhbazov, A.A.: Nonhomogeneous standby with renewal. Izv.
Akad. Nauk SSSR Tehn. Kibernet. 5, 36–45 (1981). (in Russian)
55. Beljaev, Y.K., Kolmogorov, A.N., Soloviev, A.D.: Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko
(on the occasion of his seventieth birthday). Uspehi Mat. Nauk. 37(6)(164), 243–
248 (1982) (in Russian)
56. Gnedenko, B.V., Soloviev, A.D.: Mathematics and reliability theory. Novoe v
Zhizni, Nauke, Tekhnike: Seriya “Matematika, Kibernetika” 82, 10. Moscow,
Znanie, 64 p. (1982). (in Russian)
57. Soloviev, A.D.: Mathematical methods of analysis of systems with recovery, pp.
67–96. Znanie, Moscow (1982). (in Russian)
58. Soloviev, A.D.: Analytical methods of derivation and estimation of reliability.
In: Gnedenko, B.V. (ed.) Voprosy matematicheskoi teorii nadezhnosti, pp. 9–112.
Radio i svyaz’, Moscow (1983). (in Russian)
59. Soloviev, A.D.: Analyticzne metody w teorii niezawodności. Warsawa.
Wydawnictwa Naukowo-Techniczne (WNT), 192 p. (1983). (in Polish)
60. Sakhobov, O., Soloviev, A.D.: Two-sided estimates of the reliability characteristics
of renewable systems. Tashkent, Fan (1983). (in Russian)
 A. D. Soloviev 7

61. Brysina, I.V., Soloviev, A.D.: Asymptotic analysis of queueing grids in the case of
a small load. Eng. Cybern. 21(3), 35–41 (1984). [Translated from Izv. Akad. Nauk
SSSR. Tekhn. Kibernet. 3, 40–47 (1983). (in Russian)]
62. Soloviev, A.D., Soloviev, S.A.: Queueing systems with hidden service. In: Upravle-
nie, nadejnost’ i navigaciya. Saransk, Izd. Mordovskogo univ., pp. 82–89 (1984)
63. Pechinkin, A.V., Soloviev, A.D.: An analysis and an optimization of the unichan-
nel service system for a different disciplines. In: Proceedings of 3rd International
Seminar on Teletraffic Theory on Fundamentals of Teletraffic Theory (Moscow,
June 1984), pp. 342–351. VINITI, Moscow (1984)
64. Soloviev, A.D., Afanasiev, B.A.: An invariant queueing discipline in a repairable
system. Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. I Mat. Mekh 1, 26–29 (1985)
65. Soloviev, A.D.: Methods of reliability computation for systems with recovery, pp.
457–470. In: Handbook Nadejnost tehnicheskih sistem, Moscow, Radio i svyaz
(1985)
66. Val’des Kastro, K., Soloviev, A.D.: A model of priority standby with replacement.
Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. I Mat. Mekh 2, 34–39 (1986)
67. Soloviev, A.D., Soloviev, S.A.: Queueing systems with a limited time in the system.
Soviet J. Comput. Syst. Sci. 24(4), 129–133 (1986). [Translated from Izv. Akad.
Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 1, 184–188 (1986). (in Russian)]
68. Dyakonova, E.E., Soloviev, A.D.: A single-line system with group serving under
heavy load conditions. Soviet J. Comput. Syst. Sci. 25(4), 74–79 (1987). [Trans-
lated from Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR. Tehn. Kibernet. 6, 35–39 (1986). (in Russian)]
69. Bashmakova, I.G., Belyaev, Y.K., Kolmogorov, A.N., Petrova, S.S., Soloviev, A.D.,
Cherkasov, R.S.: Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko. Mat. v Shkole 2, 62–63 (1987).
(in Russian)
70. Soloviev, A.D., Mirzaev, I.K.: An estimate for the distribution of intervals of failure-
free operation. Dokl. Akad. Nauk UzSSR 10, 9–12 (1988). (in Russian)
71. Soloviev, A.D.: Reliability estimation for repairable systems, pp. 3–60. Znanie,
Moscow (1987)
72. Soloviev, A.D.: Methods of derivation of two-sided estimates for the reliability
of repairable systems. In: Osnovnye voprosy teorii i praktiki in reliability. Minsk,
Minskoe uchilische PVO, pp. 184–191 (1988). (in Russian)
73. Abdel-Rakhman, M., El-Saudi, F., Soloviev, A.D.: Standby with repair and unre-
liable switches. Moscow Univ. Math. Bull. 44(4), 90–93 (1989). [Translated from
Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. I Mat. Mekh. 4, 86–88 (1989). (in Russian)]
74. Abdel-Rakhman, M., El-Saudi, F., Soloviev, A.D.: A model of complex repairable
system with elements of different reliabilities. Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. I Mat.
Mekh. 4, 191–196 (1989). (in Russian)
75. Belyaev, Y.K., Gnedenko, B.V., Soloviev, A.D.: Mathematical reliability-
theoretical research at the probability theory department. Theory Probab. Appl.
34(1), 165–169 (1989). [Translated from Teoriya veroyatn. i ee primen. 34(1), 191–
196 (1989). (in Russian)]
76. Dvinskikh, S.F., Soloviev, A.D.: Repairable systems with multiple failures. Moscow
Univ. Math. Bull. 46(4), 53–55 (1991). [Translated from Vestnik Moskov. Univ.
Ser. I Mat. Mekh. 4, 74–77 (1991). (in Russian)]
77. Galtsov, M.V., Soloviev, A.D.: A simplest model of testing of complex programs.
Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. I Mat. Mekh. 5, 74–76 (1991). (in Russian)
78. Konstantinidis, D.G., Soloviev, A.D.: A uniform estimate for the reliability of a
complex repairable system with an unlimited number of repair units. Moscow Univ.
Math. Bull. 46(3), 21–24 (1991). [Translated from Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. I
Mat. Mekh. 3, 21–26 (1991). (in Russian)]
8 D. B. Gnedenko et al.

79. Konstantinidis, D.G., Soloviev, A.D.: Reliability estimation of a complex renewable

system with an unbounded number of repair units. J. Appl. Probab. 28(4), 833–842
(1991)
80. Soloviev, A.D., Konstantinidis, D.G.: Reliability estimation of a complex renewable
system with an unbounded number of repair units. Theory Probab. Appl. 37(1),
98–100 (1993). [Translated from Teoriya veroyatn. i ee primen. 37(1), 91–94 (1992).
(in Russian)]
81. Polyakov, A.P., Soloviev, A.D.: Reliability estimate for the model of cold standby
with repair in the case of unbounded number of repairing units. Vestnik Moskov.
Univ. Ser. I Mat. Mekh. 5, 18–23 (1992). (in Russian)
82. Karaseva, N.G., Soloviev, A.D.: An estimate of the mean life time of repairable
systems. Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. I Mat. Mekh. 5, 25–29 (1998). (in Russian)
83. Soloviev, A.D.: Kolmogorov Andrej Nikolaevic. In: Macorini, E. (ed.) Scienziati e
technologi contemporanei. Milano 2, 117–118 (1974)
84. Petrova, S.S., Soloviev, A.D.: Theory of finite differences. In: Kolmogorov, A.N.,
Youschkevitch, A.P. (eds.) Mathematics in XIX century. Birkhauser Verlag,
Boston-Berlin (1998). [translated from Matematika XIX veka. Moscow, Nauka,
pp. 240–285 (1987). (in Russian)]
85. Soloviev, A.D.: Nekrasov and the central limit theorem of the theory of proba-
bility. Archives Int. D’Histoire des Sci. 58(160–161), 353–364 (2008). [Translated
from Istoriko-matematicheskie issledovaniya, second ser., 2(37), 9–22 (1997). (in
Russian)]
86. Petrova, S.S., Soloviev, A.D.: The origin of the method of steepest descent. Hist.
Math. 24(4), 361–375 (1997). [Translated from emphIstoriko-matematicheskie
issledovaniya 35, 148–164 (1994). (in Russian)]
87. Soloviev, A.D.: The asymptotic Laplace methods. Istoriko-matematicheskie issle-
dovaniya, second ser. 4(39), 277–287 (1999). (in Russian)
88. Soloviev, A.D.: The moment problems for entire analytic functions. Thesis of Can-
didate of Physics, Mathematics and Life Sciences. MSU, Moscow (1955)
89. Soloviev, A.D.: Queueing systems with fast service. Thesis of Doctor of Physics,
Mathematics and Life Sciences. MSU, Moscow (1972)
Queueing Models and Stochastic
Networks
 The Analysis of Cloud Computing System
as a Queueing System with Several Servers
and a Single Buffer

Ivan Zaryadov1,2(B) , Andrey Kradenyh1 , and Anastasiya Gorbunova1

1
Department of Applied Probability and Informatics,
Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University),
6 Miklukho-Maklaya Str., Moscow 117198, Russia
{zaryadov is,kradenyh aa,gorbunova av}@rudn.university
2
Institute of Informatics Problems of the Federal Research Center
“Computer Science and Control” of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
44-2 Vavilova Str., Moscow 119333, Russia

Abstract. The mathematical model of cloud computing system based

on the queuing system with the splitting of the incoming queries and
synchronization of services is considered. The queuing system consists of
a single buffer and N servers (N > 2), service times are independent and
exponentially distributed. The incoming query enters the system as a
whole and only before service is divided into subqueries, each subquery
is served by its device. The servers with parts of the same query are
considered to be employed as long as the query is not serviced as a whole:
the query is handled only when the last of it is out and a new query may
be served only when there are enough free servers (the response time is
the maximum of service times of all parts of this query). Expressions for
the stationary performance characteristics of the system are presented.

Keywords: Cloud computing system · Splitting of incoming queries

Queueing system · Response time
Stationary probability-time characteristics · Inhomogeneous servers
Homogeneous servers

1 Introduction
This paper is devoted to the problem of cloud computing modeling [1]. There
exist several approaches to the cloud computing systems modeling. One approach
(see [3–6]) implies that the cloud computing system is modeled via a queuing
system with K subqueues and each subqueue consists of a buffer with one or
several servers. The incoming query is divided into exactly K subqueries, one for
each of the subqueues. On this approach the Fork–Join [3,4] and Split–Merge
[7–9] models are based. The Split–Merge model uses the idea of synchronization
of servers (only when the service of all subqueries belonging to the same query
has been finished, the service of the new query in commenced). The second
c Springer International Publishing AG 2017
V. V. Rykov et al. (Eds.): ACMPT 2017, LNCS 10684, pp. 11–22, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71504-9_2
12 I. Zaryadov et al.

approach models the cloud computing system as queuing system with unlimited
number of homogeneous servers (see [10,11]), in which the incoming query is
split into several subqueries and each is served by one of the free servers.
The mathematical model of cloud computing system presented here may
be considered as general case within the second approach: the queuing system
consists of N servers and the buffer; each incoming query is split only before the
start of the service. We use the idea of synchronization of services as in [7–9]. Our
goal is to derive analytical expressions for the main performance characteristics
of the model.
The paper is structured as follows. The Introduction section is followed by
the section with general system (inhomogeneous servers) description. In the next
section some results for the case of the considered system (homogeneous servers)
are presented. In Conclusion the directions for further research are given.

2 The General Case of Inhomogeneous Servers

2.1 The System Description
The queuing system consists of N non-homogeneous servers (N > 2) labeled
with numbers from 1 to N without repetitions and the buffer of size r ≤ ∞.
Queries enter the system according to Poisson flow with rate λ. Before the start
of the service the query is divided into N subqueries, the service time of a
subquery on server i has exponential distribution with rate μi , i = 1, N . The
mechanism of synchronization is used — the servers with parts of the same query
are considered to be busy as long as the query is not serviced as a whole: the
query is handled only when the last part of it is out and a new query may be
served only when all servers are free.
Denote the response time of a query by η. It is one of the main characteristics
of cloud computing systems (see [2]). It may be defined as η = max(η1 , . . . , ηN )
(see [3–5]) or as η = min(η1 , . . . , ηN ) (see [12–15]), where ηi are the service times
of the subqueries.
In [16] it is shown that the analysis of queuing models with the response time
defined as minimum is equal to the analysis of well-studied multiserver queuing
systems [17]. So we will consider only the case of maximum.
The probability distribution function (PDF) of η = max(η1 , . . . , ηN ) has the
form [6,16,18]:
N
  
P {max(η1 , . . . , ηN ) < x} = 1 − e−µi x . (1)
i=1

For homogeneous servers (μi = μ, ∀i = 1, N ) (1) is reduced to

 N
P {max(η1 , η2 , . . . , ηN ) < x} = 1 − e−µx . (2)
We will consider the random process ν(t) defined by
ν(t) = {ξ(t), δ(t)}, (3)
 The Analysis of Cloud Computing System as a Queueing System 13

where ξ(t) is the number of queries in the buffer at time t and the vector
δ(t) = (δ1 (t), . . . , δN (t)) describes the servers occupancy (δi (t) = 1 if the i-th
server is occupied by the i-th part of a query and δi (t) = 0 otherwise). It is
supposed, that each subquery may enter only its server so the situation when
two or more subqueries are directed to the same server is impossible.
The state space X of {ν(t), t ≥ 0} is

X = {(0)} ∪ {(I, (δ1 , . . . , δN ))}, (4)

where I = 0; r, δ1 , . . . , δN take values 0 or 1. Denote

P {ξ(t) = I, δ(t) = (δ1 , . . . , δN )} = pI,δ (t), P {ν(t) = 0} = p0 (t).

Assuming that the steady-state exists the stationary probabilities are henceforth
denoted by pI,δ and p0 .

2.2 The System of Equations

In order to derive the system of equilibrium equations for the considered system
the following notation is needed:

– μ = (μ1 , . . . , μN ) — the service rate row-vector (size N );

– μ−(i1 ,i2 ,...,ik ) — the row-vector of service intensities (size N − k) from which
the elements with the specified numbers (μi1 , μi2 , . . . , μik ) have been deleted
(i1 = i2 = . . . = ik , i1 , i2 , . . . , ik = 1, N );
– Λ = diag(λ) — the diagonal arrival rate matrix (of variable size which is
defined by the corresponding steady-state probability vector).
– p I,k , I = 0; r, k = 1, N , — the vector of steady-state probabilities that there
are I queries in the buffer and k occupied servers;
– p I,k i1 ,i2 ,...,i , I = 0; r, k = 1, N , i1 = i2 = . . . = ik−1 , i1 , i2 , . . . , ik−1 = 1, N ,
k−1
— the vector of steady-state probabilities that there are I queries in the
buffer, k servers are occupied and the severs with numbers i1 , i2 , . . . , ik−1 are
necessarily under service.

For the probability of the empty system we have the following equation:

λp0 = μ1 p0,(1,0,...,0) + μ2 p0,(0,1,...,0) + . . . + μN p0,(0,0,...,1) . (5)

We leave the state (0) when the first query enters the system, and we enter this
state when the last part of the previous query will finish its service. In matrix
form the Eq. (5):
λp0 = M̃1 p 0,1 , (6)

where M̃1 = μ.
Now we will consider the set {(0, 1)} of states {(0, (1, 0, . . . , 0)),
(0, (0, 1, 0, . . . , 0)),. . . , (0, (0, 0, . . . , 0, 1))} — the buffer is empty and one server
is occupied:
14 I. Zaryadov et al.
⎧
⎪
⎪ (λ + μ1 )p0,(1,0,...,0,0) = μ2 p0,(1,1,0,...,0,0) + μ3 p0,(1,0,1,...,0,0) + . . . +
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ + μN p0,(1,0,0,...,0,1) ,
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ (λ + μ )p
2 0,(0,1,...,0) = μ 1 p0,(1,1,0,...,0) + μ3 p0,(0,1,1,...,0,0) + . . . +
⎨
+ μN p0,(0,1,0,...,0,1) ,
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ..
⎪
⎪ .
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ (λ + μN )p0,(0,0,...,0,1) = μ1 p0,(1,0,0,...,0,1) + μ2 p0,(0,1,0,...,0,1) + . . . +
⎪
⎪
⎩
+ μN −1 p0,(0,0,0,...,1,1) ,

or according to our notation:

⎧
⎪
⎪ (λ + μ1 )p0,(1,0,...,0) = μ−(1) p 0,21 ,
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ (λ + μ2 )p0,(0,1,...,0) = μ−(2) p 0,22 ,
.. (7)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ .
⎪
⎩
(λ + μN )p0,(0,0,...,1) = μ−(N ) p 0,2N .

Relations (7) is the matrix form can be written as

Λ̃1 + M1 p 0,1 = M̃2 p 0,2 . (8)

Here Λ̃1 = diag(λ) and M1 = diag(μi )i=1,N — the diagonal matrices with the
same size as the vector p 0,1 , M̃2 = diag(μi )i=1,N — the diagonal matrix with
 
the same size as the vector p 0,2 , column-vector p 0,2 = p 0,21 , . . . , p 0,2N .
For the set {(0, 2)} of states, when the buffer is empty and two servers are
2
occupied (CN states), the following system may be presented:
⎧
⎪
⎪ (Λ + M21 )p 0,21 = M−(1,·) p 0,31,· ,
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ (Λ + M22 )p 0,22 = M−(2,·) p 0,32,· ,
, (9)
⎪
⎪
..
⎪
⎪ .
⎪
⎩
(Λ + M2N )p 0,2N = M−(N,·) p 0,3N,· ,

where p 0,3k,· is a column-vector with elements p 0,3k,i , i = k, k, i = 1, N , matrices

Λ and M2k = diag(μk + mui )i=1,N ,i=k are (N − 1)-by-(N − 1) diagonal matrices,
M−(k,·) = diag(μ−(k,i) )i=1,N ,i=k , k = 1, N .
The matrix form of (9) is:

Λ̃2 + M2 p 0,2 = M̃3 p 0,3 , (10)

where
Λ̃2 = diag(Λ), M2 = diag(M2i )i=1,N ,

M̃3 = diag(M−(i,·) )i=1,N ,

 The Analysis of Cloud Computing System as a Queueing System 15

and a column-vector
p 0,3 = p 0,31,· , . . . , p 0,3N,· .

With the set {(0, k )} of states, when the buffer is empty and k servers are
k
occupied (CN states) the following system of equations is connected:

Λ + Mki1 ,i2 ,...,ik−1 p 0,k i1 ,i2 ,...,i = M−(i1 ,i2 ,...,ik−1 ,·) p 0,k +1i1 ,i2 ,...,i ,
k−1 k−1 ,·

k = 3, N − 1,
(11)

here

Mki1 ,i2 ,...,ik−1 = diag(μi1 + . . . + μik−1 + μi )i1 ,...,ik−1 ,i=1,N ,i1 =...=ik−1 =i ,

M−(i1 ,i2 ,...,ik−1 ,·) = diag(μi1 ,i2 ,...,ik−1 ,i )i1 ,...,ik−1 ,i=1,N ,i1 =...=ik−1 =i ,
and column-vector

p 0,k +1i1 ,i2 ,...,i = p 0,k +1i1 ,i2 ,...,i .

k−1 ,· k−1 ,· i1 ,...,ik−1 ,i=1,N ,i1 =...=ik−1 =i

The matrix form of (11) is

Λ̃k + Mk p 0,k = M̃k+1 p 0,k +1 , (12)

where
Λ̃k = diag(Λ),
Mk = diag(Mki1 ,i2 ,...,ik−1 )i1 ,...,ik−1 =1,N ,i1 =...=ik−1 ,

M̃k+1 = diag(M−(i1 ,i2 ,...,ik−1 ,·) )i1 ,...,ik−1 =1,N ,i1 =...=ik−1 ,
and a column-vector

p 0,k +1 = p 0,k +1i1 ,i2 ,...,i , i1 , . . . , ik−1 = 1, N , i1 = . . . = ik−1 .

k−1 ,·

Now we will consider the case, when the buffer is empty and all servers are
occupied — {(0, N )} = {(0, (1, 1, . . . , 1))}:

(λ + μ1 + μ2 + . . . + μN ) p0,(1,1,1,...,1,1) = λp0 + μ1 p1,(1,0,0,...,0,0) +

+ μ2 p1,(0,1,0,...,0,0) + μN p1,(0,0,0,...,0,1) , (13)

and the matrix form of (13)

Λ̃N + MN p 0,N = λp0 + M̃1 p 1,1 , (14)

with
Λ̃N = λ, MN = μ1 + μ2 + . . . + μN ,
and the matrix M̃1 was defined in (6).
16 I. Zaryadov et al.

For the case, when the buffer is not empty, we will not derive the systems of
equations in detail, but immediately represent them in the matrix form:

Λ̃k + Mk p I,k = λp I−1,k + M̃k+1 p I,k +1 , I ≥ 1, 1 ≤ k ≤ N − 1, (15)

and for k = N

Λ̃N + MN p I,N = λp I−1,N + M̃1 p I+1,1 , I ≥ 1, (16)

matrices Λ̃k , Mk and M̃k , k = 1, N , are defined in (6), (8), (10), (12), (14). The
vectors p I,k , I ≥ 1, 1 ≤ k ≤ N have the same structure and size as vectors p 0,k ,
1 ≤ k ≤ N , defined in (6), (8), (10), (12), (14).
The normalization condition for the system with unlimited buffer size is
∞ N
p0 + 1k p I,k = 1, (17)
I=0 k=1

where 1k = (1, 1, . . . , 1, 1) is a vector which size is equal to the size of the vector
p I,k , 1 ≤ k ≤ N .
For the system with finite-capacity buffer the following equations hold:

Mk p r,k = λp r−1,k + M̃k+1 p r,k +1 , k = 1, N − 1, (18)

and
MN p r,N = λp r−1,N , (19)
where matrices Mk and M̃k , 1 ≤ k ≤ N , are defined in (6), (8), (10), (12), (14)
and vectors p r,k , 1 ≤ k ≤ N , have the same structure and the same size as
vectors p 0,k , 1 ≤ k ≤ N , defined in (6), (8), (10), (12), (14).
The normalization condition (17) for the finite buffer system takes the form:
r N
p0 + 1k p I,k = 1. (20)
I=0 k=1

For the infinite system (6), (8), (10), (12), (14), (15), (16), as well for the
finite system (6), (8), (10), (12), (14), (15), (16), (18), (19) the solution may be
found by using matrix-analytical methods [19–26].

2.3 Marginal Probability Distributions

By p̃I,k = 1p I,k , I ≥ 0, k = 1, N we will denote the probability that there are
I, I ≥ 0, queries in the buffer and k, k = 1, N , servers are occupied. Then the
system (6), (8), (10), (12), (14), (15), (16) takes form:
⎧
⎪
⎪ λp0 = M̃1 p 0,1 ,
⎨
N
(21)
⎪
⎪ λ p̃I,k = M̃1 p I+1,1 , I ≥ 0.
⎩
k=1
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 Then gang wi’ me to Scotland, dear,
We ne’er again will roam,
And with thy smile sae bonny, cheer
My native Highland home.

For blithsome is the breath of day,

And sweet’s the bonny broom,
And pure the dimpling rills that play
Around my Highland home.

Such, during several months, was their almost unvaried mode of

life. On the 12th of March 1826, Clapperton was seized with
dysentery; and the intense heat of the weather as well as the
feverish state of the patient rendered it necessary that he should be
almost constantly fanned; a female slave was employed to perform
this office, but she found it too irksome, and soon abandoned her
post and ran away. He grew daily worse, while Lander was
oppressed with anxiety on account of the calamities which had
befallen him, and exhausted with the exertion required in the
performance of the various duties which devolved upon him. As he
had a great regard for his master, we see no reason to doubt the
accuracy of his account, that he was unremitting in his attentions to
him during his last illness, which Clapperton himself attributed to the
following instance of imprudence. “Early in February,” said he one
day to Lander, “after walking a whole day exposed to the scorching
rays of the sun, I was fatigued, and lay down under the branch of a
tree. The soil on that occasion was soft and wet, and from that hour
to the present I have not been free from cold. This has brought on
my present disorder, from which I believe I shall never recover.” A
couch was made for him on the outside of his hut, and during the
space of twenty days he gradually declined, till at last all hope of
recovery was extinguished. In these dismal moments, says his
faithful attendant, he derived consolation and support from the
exercises of religion. Lander read the scriptures to him daily. No
stranger visited him during his illness, except an Arab of Fezzan,
who intruded himself one day into the hut, and wished to be allowed
to read some of the Mahometan prayers, but he was ordered to quit
his presence. Pasko who had left his service, and had married and
settled in the city, was taken back, and relieved Lander of a portion
of his heavy tasks. During his illness Clapperton talked much of his
country and his friends. By the advice of Maddie, a native of Bornou,
he swallowed a decoction of green bark from the butter tree, and
speedily afterwards became worse, so that he could get no repose.
On the next day he said to Lander, “I feel myself dying. Take care of
my journal and papers after my decease; and when you arrive in
London, go immediately to my agents and send for my uncle who will
accompany you to the colonial office, and see you deposit them with
the secretary. Borrow money, and go home by Fezzan in the train of
the Arab merchants. From Mourzuk send to Mr. Warrington, our
consul at Tripoli, for money, and wait till it comes. Do not lumber
yourself with my books. Leave also the barometer and every
cumbersome article. You may give them to Mallem Mudey. Remark
what towns and villages you pass through, and put on paper
whatever remarkable thing the chiefs of the different places may say
to you.”
On the 11th of April, he was shaved, and rallied a little, but soon
became worse, and died on the 13th. By order of Bello he was
buried in an open place about five miles from the city of Soccatoo,
and Lander read over him the service of the church of England for
the “burial of the dead,” as Clapperton had himself formerly done for
Dr. Oudney and some other of his companions. Next day Lander
returned to the spot, and with the assistance of some of the natives a
shed was erected over the grave.
 MEMOIR
OF

MAJOR ALEXANDER LAING,

THE

AFRICAN TRAVELLER.
 MEMOIR
OF

MAJOR ALEX. GORDON LAING,

THE

AFRICAN TRAVELLER.

Major Alexander Gordon Laing, another of those adventurous

spirits who met with their common fate, in the attempt to explore the
interior of Africa, was born at Edinburgh on the 27th December 1794,
and was the eldest son of Mr. William Laing, A.M., one of the most
popular classical teachers of his day. In his academy, in the New
Town of Edinburgh, young Laing received nearly the whole of his
education, at least all that was necessary to prepare him for the
university. Possessing a quick intuitive perception, and an ardent
thirst for classical knowledge, his progress was in proportion; and at
the early age of thirteen, he entered the university of Edinburgh.
Here his attainments became still more marked, and Professor
Christison, who then occupied the humanity chair, observing his
literary taste, used to point him out in the public class as worthy the
imitation of his fellow-students, though few might hope to surpass
him.
When about fifteen, Laing went to Newcastle, where for six
months he filled the situation of assistant to Mr. Bruce, a teacher in
that city; he then returned to Edinburgh, and entered upon a similar
duty under his father, a situation for which he was singularly
qualified.
It appears strange that a young man, quietly, and, at the same
time, eagerly, pursuing the laborious profession of a schoolmaster,
should have afterwards adopted another line of life forming a perfect
contrast to that in which he had been previously employed. The
change of his tastes is wholly to be attributed to his connexion with
the volunteers. At a time when volunteering was very general,
Alexander Laing entered one of the corps then forming; and in 1810
was made an ensign in the Prince of Wales’s Edinburgh Volunteers,
then being in his seventeenth year. Captivated with the specimen he
there had of a military life, he desired earnestly to be a soldier. He
could no longer submit to the restraints and routine of school
discipline; and at the end of the second year, he finally gave up the
now to him irksome duties of teaching, to the disappointment of his
parents and relatives, who were very desirous that he should not
change his profession. Being, however, bent upon the military
service, he, in the year 1811, went out to Barbadoes, where his
maternal uncle, Colonel, afterwards General Gabriel Gordon, then
was, with whom he remained a short time till he obtained an
ensigncy in the York Light Infantry, which regiment he immediately
joined at Antigua, and in two years thereafter he was promoted to a
lieutenancy in the same corps—a situation which he held till the
regiment was reduced, when he was then placed upon half pay.
But anxious for occupation, he exchanged, as speedily as the
affair could be negotiated, into the second West India regiment,
which he joined at Jamaica. While there, he had to discharge the
duties of deputy quartermaster-general, the exertions of which
department brought on a liver complaint, for which his medical
advisers recommended a sea voyage. He accordingly sailed to
Honduras, by which his complaint was considerably relieved, and the
governor, Colonel Arthur, finding him an active, useful, and intelligent
officer, appointed him to the office of fort-major, and would not suffer
him to return to Jamaica, but had him attached to another division of
his regiment then in Honduras, where he remained till a return of his
complaint forced him to come home, his frame being so much
debilitated, that he was unable to walk, so that it became necessary
to carry him on shipboard.
His constitution was very seriously injured by this illness, and in
consequence he remained nearly eighteen months with his friends in
Scotland. During this time, however, that half of the second West
India regiment to which he was attached was reduced, and he was
again placed upon half-pay. In the autumn of 1819, he returned to
London, and having been sent for by the late Sir Henry Torrens, then
Colonel of his regiment, was familiarly complimented by him on his
former services, immediately appointed lieutenant and adjutant, and
proceeded to Sierra Leone.
Early in January 1822, Lieutenant Laing was sent by the late
governor, Sir Charles M‘Carthy, on an embassy to Kambia and the
Mandingo country, to ascertain the political state of those districts,
the disposition of the inhabitants to trade, and their sentiments in
regard to the abolition of the slave trade. Sir Charles was perfectly
satisfied with the manner in which his instructions were executed,
and with the information he received on the different heads.
Having fulfilled the purposes of the mission at Kambia, he crossed
the river Scarcies, and proceeded on foot to Malacouri, a strongly
fortified Mandingo town, situated on the banks of the river Malageea,
about twenty miles N. by W. from Kambia, where he learned that
Amara had applied to the king of the Soolimas, who had sent a
numerous army to his assistance, by whose means he had taken
Malageea, the principal town belonging to Sannassee, and had
made that chief a prisoner. Here he was also informed, that Amara
meant to put Sannassee to death after the performance of several
ceremonies. The Soolima force was stated to exceed ten thousand
in number, and commanded by Yaradee, a brother of the king, who
had acquired some renown as a warrior. Of the Soolimas, little more
than the name was known at Sierra Leone: they were reported,
however, to be a very powerful nation, residing in the interior, at a
distance of three or four hundred miles to the eastward of Sierra
Leone.
Sannassee having always been upon the most friendly terms with
our government, and the unforgiving disposition of Amara being well
known, great alarm was excited for the unfortunate chieftain whom
he had in his power; Laing therefore, though suffering under a
severe attack of fever and ague, proceeded to the Soolima camp to
mediate between Amara and the captive Sannassee. His account of
this expedition is as follows:
“About two miles beyond the river Malageea, which I crossed near
its source, I fell in with an outlying picket of the Soolimas, consisting
of about fifty men, with sentries regularly posted, to whom I was
obliged to explain my purpose before the chief of the guard would
permit me to pass: another mile west brought me to a stronger guard
of about one hundred and fifty men; and a mile and a-half farther to a
large savannah or plain where the whole army was encamped. It
was now nearly nine o’clock, and being very faint and feverish, I was
glad to take refuge from the rays of the morning sun, which, in this
part of Africa is the most oppressive time of the day, under a few
bundles of dried grass thrown loosely upon three sticks fixed apart in
the ground at equal distances, the tops being drawn together and
fastened after the manner of military triangles. These temporary
dwellings, when well constructed, form no bad imitation of, or
substitute for, bell-tents, possessing this advantage, that they can be
erected with little trouble, and no expense, in a short time, whenever
an army takes up a position. From this covering I had a view of the
whole encampment, which exhibited the appearance and bustle of a
well attended fair, rather than the regularity and discipline of military
quarters. Tents constructed as above described, were to be seen
covering the savannah as far as the trees, windings, and other
obstacles, would permit the eye to reach; and the distinguishing flags
of the various and numerous tribes were everywhere to be observed
waving over the habitations of their respective chiefs. Music, a horrid
din of a variety of barbarous instruments broke on the ear from every
direction; while parties of men, grotesquely habited in war dresses,
were here and there descried, brandishing their cutlasses, and
capering with the most extravagant gestures, to the time of the
various sounds produced. The novelty of the scene attracted my
attention for a while,—but fatigue, arising from the ague of the
preceding night, at length overcame my curiosity. About noon I was
awoke by one of my followers, who acquainted me that Amara was
ready to hold a palaver with me, and desired my immediate
attendance. In my way to his tent I visited Satin Lai, a designing
Mandingo chief, possessing much power; he had been mainly
instrumental in putting Amara on the throne, and was at this time the
only staunch adherent to the king, who, by following too implicitly his
advice, had lowered himself considerably in the opinion of his head
men, who form the principal strength of an African king. I found Satin
Lai, a good-looking man, apparently between sixty and seventy
years of age, about five feet ten inches in height, affable in his
deportment, with a mild and amiable countenance which is said to be
rather at variance with his actions. He was performing the office of a
commissary, surrounded by several hundred baskets of white rice,
which he was distributing to the different tribes in quantities
proportionate to their strength. In one corner of the tent some of his
slaves were employed in cooking, in another his horse was feeding,
encircled with Moorish trapping, spears, muskets, bows and quivers.
On appearing before the tent of Amara, I was directed to seat myself
under the shade of a large booth covered with cocoa-nut branches
and plantain leaves, capable of containing and sheltering from the
rays of the sun upwards of two thousand people; here the king soon
joined me, and the war drum being beat, the booth was shortly filled
with a motley assemblage of armed men. Booths of corresponding
size, erected at right angles, and parallel to the one in which I sat, so
as to form a large square, were also soon crowded with hordes of
Soolimas, Bennas, Tambaccas, and Sangaras, in all, amounting to
about ten thousand men, while the inclosed space was free to such
as were desirous of exhibiting in feats of warlike exercises, in
dancing, and in music. As the exibitions on this occasion were of the
same kind with those which I afterwards saw in the Soolima country
on similar occasions, and which will be described hereafter, I shall
merely observe that Yaradee, the general of the Soolima army, was
particularly conspicuous in exhibiting on horseback the various
evolutions of African attack and defence. When their performances
were concluded, I had an interview with Yaradee, and obtaining from
him an assurance that Sannassee’s life should be preserved, I took
my leave, receiving many protestations of friendship. A subsequent
conversation with Amara, in which I explained his Excellency’s
wishes, terminated my visit to the camp, which I quitted at sunset,
and proceeded direct on my return to Sierra Leone, where I did not
arrive till the sixth day, having suffered much inconvenience on the
journey, from the effects of increasing illness.”
We have given this account entire, that the reader may
understand the kind of natives that he had to deal with in his after
intercourse with them. His interference seemed here to have
terminated happily for Sannassee, but he was scarcely recovered
from his illness, when it was reported that all his efforts had been of
no avail; and the governor, still anxious to save the life of his ally,
asked Laing again to undertake another embassy for the same
object; he complied, again visited the Soolima camp, where he found
that Amara had set Sannassee at liberty, after first burning his town,
and then plundering his property. Lieutenant Laing did not waste
time in a longer palaver than was just sufficient to mark the
displeasure of the governor regarding their conduct to Sannassee.
He was accompanied on this mission by Mr. Mackie, assistant
surgeon, who, together with Lieutenant Laing, were the objects of
undisguised astonishment to Yarradee, who scrutinized every article
of their dress with great minuteness; and on observing Laing pull off
his gloves, “he stared with surprise, covered his widely opened
mouth with his hands, and at length he exclaimed, ‘Alla ackbar,’ he
has pulled the skin off his hands.” Lieutenant Laing and Mr. Mackie
reached Sierra Leone after an absence of six days and a-half during
the whole of which time they had not been under shelter for a single
hour. While upon this second mission he had observed that many
men who accompanied the Soolima army possessed considerable
quantities of gold, and having learned that ivory abounded in
Soolima, he suggested to the governor the advantage to the colony
of opening up an intercourse with these people.
The governor was pleased with the suggestion, and submitted it
without delay to a meeting of the council, when it was resolved, that
Lieutenant Laing should be permitted to penetrate to the country of
the Soolimas, choosing his own road, and the one by which he could
most easily communicate his discoveries. He was now in the
character of a volunteer traveller, a character which he admirably
supported.
 This party consisted of Musah Kanta, a native of Foutah Jallon;
two soldiers of the second West India regiment, eleven carriers,
natives of the Jolof country, and a boy, Mahomed, a native of Sego.
They quitted Sierra Leone in boats on the 16th of April, 1822, and
ascending the Rokelle, slept the first night at Mr. M‘Cormick’s factory,
who, from his name, seems to have been a countryman of our
traveller’s. They took the route through the Timannee country, calling
upon the various chieftains and governors who were in their way,
from whom they received passes, but often with difficulty, and only
on the payment of money, and the presentation of articles,
sometimes of considerable value.
While they were upon the point of leaving Rokon, which is in the
Timannee country, the king of the place made his appearance in a
violent rage, and the cause of his grievance, was a Jolofman, who
attended Lieutenant Laing, having had the audacity to dress himself
in a new red slop shirt, which the king considering a more splendid
habiliment than his own, insisted upon having; this the Jolof
obstinately refused; while the king declared it to be the law in his
country, (a law made by himself at the moment) “That any man
dressed better than himself, especially in red, should forfeit his
clothes.” Lieutenant Laing settled this difference by desiring the Jolof
to change his shirt, and giving the king a bar of tobacco and a dram
of rum. After leaving Rokon, the country for a short time was
beautiful and cultivated, and on reaching Nunkaba, they found the
female inhabitants busy with their cotton, preparing it for spinning.
On their arrival at Toma, though only sixty miles from Sierra
Leone, Lieutenant Laing learned, to his surprise, that “no white man
had ever before been seen there.” He says, in his journal, “the first
appearance of surprise, that came under my observation was in a
woman, who stood fixed like a statue, gazing at the party as they
entered the town, and did not stir a muscle till the whole had passed,
when she gave a loud halloo of astonishment, and covered her
mouth with both her hands.”
This astonishment at their appearance, was sometimes
productive of annoyance during the progress of their journey. At
Balanduco they found the women busily employed in separating the
juicy saffron-coloured fruit from the palm nut; in squeezing it into
wooden mortars, and in beating it into one common mash, in order
that the oil might be extracted more easily and more commodiously
in boiling. Lieutenant Laing estimated that during the season of the
fruit, they manufactured, on an average, from thirty to forty gallons a-
day.
They now began to feel the fatigues of a long continued journey;
they reached Rokanka on the 25th of April, much fatigued, and
deprived of water, the inhabitants of the village either being unable or
unwilling to supply them with any; and being afraid to enter the
woods in search of it, from the whistle of the Purrah being heard in
the neighbourhood. The Purrah are a sort of “Robin Hood gang,”
who infest the woods, occasionally making an inroad upon some
peaceful village, which they invariably plunder; the inhabitants
keeping hidden, and never attempting any resistance. They are
tatooed in a manner peculiar to themselves, and have gradations of
rank in their community. At stated times they hold assemblies, on
which occasions, the country is in the greatest alarm, for notices are
dispersed abroad concerning them, and the people are obliged to
attend; they settle all differences, and inflict capital punishments,
according to their pleasure, so that in fact, they are the governors of
the country, and Lieutenant Laing says, “that from the nature of their
power, and the purposes to which it is applied, they will probably be
found a most serious obstacle to its civilization.”
On leaving Rokanka the next day, they came in sight of a stream,
after walking about an hour and a quarter, and having suffered so
much from thirst, for thirty hours preceding, they were so eager to
enjoy it, and indulged so freely in it, that on reaching a town four
miles farther, the whole party were attacked with the most violent
spasms, Lieutenant Laing suffering particularly, it being six days
before he was at all restored to his usual health.
He found some difficulty in procuring permission to depart from
Ma-Bung, which was the name of his present residence, being
obliged to hold a palaver, as they termed it, with the head men of the
place; and it was only after a very long palaver with his interpreter
and them, that he was suffered to depart, upon making presents of
tobacco, powder, white baft, and rum.
This custom of presenting gifts at every place, was a serious evil,
but it was one without which it was impossible to proceed, and
occasionally, his attendants and the inhabitants engaged in a scuffle,
sometimes difficult to suppress. It is unnecessary to follow his
motions minutely; the reader may find them interestingly and
particularly recorded in his travels published in 1825, and edited by
his friend Captain Sabine.
It is sufficient to mention that on the 7th of May he reached the
last town of the Timmannee country; called Ma-Boom, part of which
was inhabited by Koorankos, in which part he took up his residence,
as through that country it was now his intention to proceed.
He found very great difficulty in getting away from Ma-Boom,
owing to the greediness and treachery of Smeilla, the head man of
the place, who laid a plan of assault and robbery upon him and his
party, but from which he was preserved by the sagacity of his
servant, Musah, and his own decision. With the other inhabitants of
Ma-Boom he seemed pleased, particularly the Mandingo families,
and the country around, he says, is thickly wooded, and abounds
with rich pasturages, well stocked with cattle, sheep, and goats.
The next station was Kooloofa, where they received a kind but
noisy welcome, being prevented from sleeping during the night by
barbarous music in honour of their visit. “They, one and all,” says
Lieutenant Laing, “thanked God for my appearance among them:
they said they could not live without trade, and on that account, if for
no other, they were glad to see a white man come into the country to
open a good road.” He easily received permission to depart from
Kooloofa, and left it with the best wishes of a numerous crowd,
assembled to witness his departure. After passing through several
places, they reached Seemera, where he was as kindly received as
at Kooloofa, the king “thanking God that he had seen a white man,
and would do any thing to help him, as he was sure he could have
no other object in coming to this country than to do good.” While
there the place was visited by a tremendous tornado. The house
where Laing slept being badly thatched, the lightning kept it in almost
perpetual illumination, and, as he himself expresses it, the holes in
the roof gave him the full benefit of a shower bath. He was detained
here a short time, partly by the rain, during which time the king sent
a company of dancers to dance before him for his diversion. His
route, after leaving Seemera, was difficult and dangerous, he and his
party having to endure several heavy tornadoes, rough roads, and
plots laid to rob him of his baggage. His remarks upon what he
observed during this journey must be extremely interesting to a
geologist, and, indeed, to any man of science, for which, however,
we again refer to his travels.
While at Worrowyah, he was entertained by some female singers,
the tenor of whose song, he said, did not please him. They sung “of
the white man who had come to their town; the houseful of money
which he had; such cloth, such beads, such fine things had never
been seen in Kooranko before; if their husbands were men, and
wished to see their wives well dressed, they ought to take some of
the money from the white man.” He was saved from the effects of
this advice by one of his suite called Tamba, who answered them by
a counter song. He sung of “Sierra Leone, of houses a mile in length
filled with money; that the white man who was here had nothing
compared to those in Sierra Leone; if, therefore, they wished to see
some of the rich men from that country come into Kooranko, they
must not trouble this one; whoever wanted to see a snake’s tail must
not strike it on the head.” This song was applauded, and Lieutenant
Laing was allowed to keep his money.
While at Kamato, which he reached on the 29th of May, Laing had
a severe attack of fever, which lasted for several days. As he was
recovering from the attack, a messenger arrived from the king of the
Soolimas, with a party, and two horses, to convey him to their
country, his majesty being very desirous to see him within his
territories. Laing was very glad to accept of the invitation, so on the
morning of the 5th of June, he mounted one of the horses, and left
the Kooranko country for a time. It was not till the 11th that he
reached the royal city, having in his way thither received much
kindness and hospitality from the native head men of the villages
through which they passed; one head man, says our traveller, “took
off his cap, and lifting his aged eyes to heaven, fervently thanked his
Creator for having blessed him with the sight of a white man before
he died.”
When Lieutenant Laing reached Falaba, which was the residence
of the king of the Soolimas, he was saluted with a heavy and
irregular discharge of musketry, which he ordered to be returned with
three rounds from his party, and then alighting, shook hands with the
king, who presented him with two massive gold rings, and made him
sit down beside him. The king and the Lieutenant were scarcely
seated, when his old friend Yaradee, better dressed than when he
last met him, mounted on a fiery charger, crossed the parade at full
gallop, followed by about thirty warriors on horseback, and two
thousand on foot,—the equestrians returning and performing many
evolutions, to the amazement and admiration of the spectators. After
which many other spectacles were exhibited for the diversion of his
guest by the king of the Soolimas. Yaradee was particularly kind to
Lieutenant Laing, saying, “he was a proud man that day, the first day
in which a white man had ever been in the Soolima country.”
The different chieftains paid homage to our traveller, when they
saw how highly he was thought of by their sovereign, and he was
teazed with speeches and remarks addressed to him by a crowd for
the pleasure of hearing him speak, and whenever he did so, they
would shout, “He speaks, the white man speaks.” He said these
marks of attention would have delighted him any other time, but his
horse having fallen with him, he had been precipitated into the water
of a marsh he was crossing at the time of the accident, which
brought on an attack of fever, from which, however, he recovered in
about three days. Those who wish to see an account of the fetes and
the excursions, designed principally in honour of Lieutenant Laing,
must read his travels, in which they will find an interesting account.
Feeling again the intimations of approaching illness, he shortened
his interviews, and came to the great business of the mission, free
intercourse and trade, and the desire of Sir Charles M‘Carthy to
cultivate a good understanding with them; and then producing his
presents, which were considerable, every thing was adjusted in the
most amicable manner: but he had scarcely returned to his hut,
when the fever was renewed with redoubled violence, and,
stretching himself on his mat, he resigned himself to the disease
which for nine or ten days prevented him from rising; three days of
which he was in a state of delirium. On his consciousness returning
he found he had been cupped by one of the country doctors, which
had been of great service to him. During this illness his
meteorological observations ceased, and it was, as he expresses it,
“with a grief bordering on distraction that he thought upon his
chronometer, which, as nobody could wind up but himself, had
unavoidably gone down.”
It was on the 1st of July that he found himself able to write a few
lines to acquaint his friends at Sierra Leone with his arrival at Falaba,
and that he hoped soon to be able to go even farther eastward; two
natives of Soolima volunteering to be the bearers of his despatches.
On the 11th, he was so well as to mount on horseback and take a
survey of the adjacent country, but from the delay occasioned by the
unwillingness of the king to allow him to depart, it was not till the 17th
of September that he finally quitted Falaba in order to return to Sierra
Leone; having resided in the Soolima country more than three
months. He was on the 9th of September gratified by the return of
the messengers he had sent to Sierra Leone; he received the packet
they conveyed to him with exquisite delight; but besides the kind
letters of his friends, they sent “tobacco, sugar, a little brandy, which
soon disappeared among the Soolimas, and, though last not least,
two pairs of good shoes, a luxury to which his feet had for some time
been unaccustomed. He was also furnished, through the kindness of
Dr. Barry, staff-surgeon at Sierra Leone, with a lancet and two glass
plates of preserved vaccine virus, with which, on the 13th, he was
permitted to inoculate a number of children, commencing with those
of the king himself,” who had so much confidence in him, that Laing
says “he believed he would have permitted him to have attempted
the most extravagant experiment upon any of his own family.” If he
had possessed sufficient virus, he continues, “I might have
inoculated all the children in Falaba: the yard was absolutely
crowded with old men and women, holding young children in their
arms, and forming a group worthy of the pencil of a West or a
Rubens.” He very naturally remarks upon it as an interesting fact,
“that a nation so far in the interior of Africa, should have so readily
submitted, at the instigation of a white man, who was almost a
stranger to them, to an operation against which so much prejudice
existed for so many years in the most enlightened and civilized
countries in Europe. When the general prevalence of superstitious
fear from greegrees and fetishes is duly considered, this fact
presents a strong proof of the confidence which the natives of
Western Africa repose in the measures of white people to benefit
them; and affords a no less strong presumption, that their other
superstitious notions might soon be found to give way, in like
manner, to the labours of the missionary: and their present
barbarous habits of obtaining slaves for trade by force of arms, to the
more rational proceeding of cultivating the soil for articles of
commercial exchange.”
The day that he quitted Falaba, which, as has been already
stated, was on the 17th of September, the natives in great numbers
accompanied him for a considerable distance, the females making
most extravagant demonstrations of grief; the king accompanied him
a little farther, when a parting took place, which we shall insert in
Captain Laing’s own words, (for while at Falaba, he had received
intelligence of his promotion to the rank of captain). “At length the old
man stopped and said, he was now to see me for the last time. The
tears were in his eyes, and the power of utterance seemed to have
forsaken him for a while. Holding my hand still fast, he said ‘white
man, think of Falaba, for Falaba will always think of you: the men
laughed when you came among us, the women and children feared
and hid themselves: they all sit now with their heads in their hands,
and with tears in their eyes because you leave us. I shall remember
all you have said to me; you have told me what is good, and I know
that it will make my country great; I shall make no more slaves.’
Then squeezing me affectionately by the hand, and turning away his
head, he gently loosened his grasp, and saying, ‘Go, and return to
see us,’ he covered his face with his hands. I felt as if I had parted
from a father. Such remembrances impress themselves too deeply in
the heart to be effaced by time or distance, and establish a
permanent interest in the welfare of a country, which may have a
material influence on the after life of the individual who entertains
them.”
The route of Captain Laing and his party back to Sierra Leone
was much the same with that which they had gone when they set
out; most of the head men expressing surprise at seeing him again,
they in general supposing that he had been killed in the interior, and
on the 28th of October, he had the pleasure of being welcomed by
his friends at Sierra Leone, “so many of whom, so much esteemed,
and so highly valued, are now, alas, no more!”
On Captain Laing’s arrival at Sierra Leone, he received an order
to join his regiment on the Gold Coast, without delay, in
consequence of the hostilities which had commenced between the
British government and the king of the Ashantees.
On his arrival on the Gold Coast, he was employed in the
organization and command of a very considerable native force,
designed to be auxiliary to a small British detachment, which was
then expected from England. During the greater part of the year
1823, this native force was stationed on the frontier of the Fantee
and Ashantee countries, and was frequently engaged, and always
successfully, with detachments of the Ashantee army.
On the fall of Sir Charles M‘Carthy, which took place early in
1824, Captain Sabine, who edits the Travels, and writes the preface
from which we quote, says, “that Lieutenant-Colonel Chisholm, on
whom the command of the Gold Coast devolved, deemed it
expedient to send Captain Laing to England, for the purpose of
acquainting government, more fully than could be done by despatch,
with the existing circumstances of the command. Soon after his
arrival in England, which took place in August, he obtained a short
leave of absence to visit Scotland for the recovery of his health,
which had been seriously affected by so many months of such
constant and extreme exposure in Africa, as it is probable few
constitutions would have supported.”
He returned to London in October of the same year, where an
opportunity now presented itself which he had long anxiously
desired, of proceeding under the auspices of government, on an
expedition to discover the course and termination of the Niger. He
was now promoted to the rank of major, and departed from London
on that enterprise early in February 1825, with the intention of
leaving Tripoli, for Timbuctoo, in the course of the summer of that
year. He touched at Malta on his way to Tripoli, where he was shown
every attention by the late Marquis of Hastings, at whose table he
repeatedly dined.
While at Tripoli, he became acquainted with the British Consul,
Mr. Warrington, his business with him producing an intimacy of the
closest nature, which was farther cemented by Major Laing’s
marrying his daughter, Emma Maria Warrington, an event which took
place on the 14th of July 1825. But he had no time to spend in
domestic life: two days after marriage he set out for those vallies of
death where every preceding traveller had found a grave.
It was on the 17th of July that Major Laing left Tripoli in company
of the Sheik Babani, a highly respectable man who had resided in
Timbuctoo twenty-two years, and whose wife and children were
there still. This Sheik engaged to conduct our traveller thither in two
months and a half; and there, or at his neighbouring residence, to
deliver him over to the great Marabout Mooktar, by whose influence
he would be able to proceed farther in any direction that might be
required, according to information received as to the course of the
river. This Babani is stated by the Consul of Tripoli, to be “one of the
finest fellows, with the best tempered and most prepossessing
countenance that he ever beheld; Laing, in all his letters, speaks of
him in the highest terms of respect and approbation. As the Gharan
mountains were rendered impassable by the defection of a rebellious
chief of the Bashaw, who had taken possession of all the passes, the
small koffila of Babani took the route of Beneoleed. On the 21st of
August they reached Shaté, and, on the 13th of September, arrived
safely at Ghadamis, after a “tedious and circuitous journey of nearly
a thousand miles.” In the course of this journey, Laing reports the
destruction of all his instruments from the heat of the weather, and
the jolting of the camels; his barometers broken; his hygrometers
rendered useless from the evaporation of the ether; the tubes of
most of his thermometers snapt by the warping of the ivory; the glass
of the artificial horizon so dimmed by the friction of sand which
insinuated itself everywhere, as to render an observation difficult and
troublesome; his chronometer stopt, owing, he says, to the extremes
of heat and cold, but more probably to the jolting, or the insinuation
of sandy particles; and to wind up the catalogue of his misfortunes,
the stock of his rifle broken by the great gouty foot of a camel
treading upon it. The range of the thermometer in the desert, was
from 120° about the middle of the day, to 75°-68°, and once or twice
to 62° an hour or two before sunrise, at which time was observable a
great incrustation of nitre on the ground, which is the common
appearance on the surface of all the known deserts of Africa, from
Tripoli to the Cape of Good Hope.
When Major Laing reached Ghadamis, he discovered that his
companion, the Sheik Babani, was governor of the town. He
considered him a person of sterling worth, with a quiet, inoffensive,
unobtrusive character, though at the same time not deficient in
decision, but never once suspected him to be a person of so much
importance and influence as he all at once discovered him to be. The
Sheik immediately lodged him in one of his own houses, with a large
garden, and yard for his camels, which were fed at the expense of
the governor. Ghadamis is a place of considerable trade; all the
koffilas to and from Soudan passing through it. The citizens pay
tribute to the Tuaric who inhabit the great Sahara or desert on the
western side of Africa for permission to their koffilas to pass without
being subjected to plunder. The town contains six or seven thousand
inhabitants.
Major Laing left Ghadamis on the 27th of October, and arrived at
Ensala on the 3d of December. Ensala is the most eastern town in
the province of Tuat, and belongs to the Tuaric: it is considered to be
thirty-five days journey distant from Timbuctoo. As he approached
this city, some thousands of people, of all ages, came out to meet
this Christian traveller. Nothing could exceed the kindness and
hospitality with which they received him, and Major Laing returned it,
by patiently listening to their complaints, and administering medicine
to their diseases to the best of his ability.
 The koffila left Ensala on the 10th of January 1826, and on the
26th of the same month entered upon the desert of Tenezarof, about
twenty journies from Timbuctoo, a mere desert of sand, perfectly flat,
and quite destitute of all verdure. Major Laing, at this time was still
an enthusiast in his expedition, and, possessed of good health and
spirits, experiencing everywhere, from every person, nothing but
good will, kindness, and hospitality. He particularly mentions the
services of Hatteta, the Tuaric who had accompanied him thither; he
also speaks of the sheik Babani, who, he says, continued “to watch
over him with the solicitude of a father.” Shortly after the arrival of a
letter with these accounts from Tenezarof, reports reached Tripoli,
that the koffila had been attacked by robbers; that the Major’s
servant, as well as some others, had been killed, and he himself
wounded; at the same time adding, that he had effected his escape
to the Marabout Mooktar, who usually resided at a spot only five
days journey distant from Timbuctoo. These reports, though they
created some uneasiness, were not believed, till a letter was
received at Tripoli by Mrs. Laing, indirectly tending to confirm them.
She received it on the 20th of September 1826: it was written from
the desert of Tenezarof. The following extract is what appears to
refer to the circumstances which raised the reports.
“I take the advantage of a Tuaric going to Tuat, to acquaint you,
that I am safe and in perfect health, and completely recovered from
the trifling indisposition which annoyed me on leaving that place. If it
pleases God I shall be in Timbuctoo in less than twenty days, and in
two months afterwards I hope to find my way to some part of the
coast. I have met with much annoyance from the Tuaric; few, very
few of whom are like Hatteta, and are not, as the consul anticipated,
our friends. You shall know all particulars from me on my arrival at
Timbuctoo, from whence I shall lose no time in addressing you. I
have stopped in the sun to write; pray excuse it, for I am in great
haste, and I write with only a thumb and a finger, having a very
severe cut on my fore finger.”
This cut probably refers to the wounds he had received, but which
he did not wish to mention in a more serious manner.