Queuing Models

Examples of Queue
Situation Customers Service

Job Interviews Applicants Experts

Clinic Patients Doctors

Railway Station Travellers Ticket Window

Airport Aircraft Runways

Definition – Queue Structure
Queue Structure is the crucial element of a
queuing system, as it shows the queue
discipline, which means the order in which
the customers are picked from the queue for
the service.
Simply the way the customer is selected
from the waiting line for service is shown by
the queue structure.
Components of queuing systems
Input Source Queuing system

Served
Population Customer Service Customers
Queue
Mechanism Leave the
system

Arrival Queue Service

Queue
Process Discipline Process
configuration
Input Source
Characteristics of the input source is size. The size is
the total number of units that might require service
from time to time. It can be either limited or unlimited
Unlimited population represents a large number of
possible customers. Bank, Petrol pump station, etc..
Example of a limited population may be a certain
number of machines to be repaired by a service man.
It is necessary to take the term customer very
generally, customers may be people machines of
various nature, computer processes, telephone calls,
etc..
Queue
Queue represents a certain number of
customers waiting for service. Typically the
customer being served in considered not to
be in the queue.
Sometimes the customers form a queue
literally i.e. people waiting in a line for a
bank teller. There are two important
properties of a queue: maximum size &
queue discipline
Service Mechanism
Service represents some activity that takes
time & that the customers are waiting for. It
may be areal service carried on person or
machines. Typically a service takes random
time.
Another important parameter is the number of
servers. Systems with one server only are called
single channel systems, Systems with more
servers are called multi channel systems.
Arrival Process
Arrival defines the way customers enter the
system, mostly the arrivals are random with
random intervals between two adjacent
arrivals. Typically the arrival is described by a
random distribution of intervals also called
arrival pattern
Queue Configuration
The queue configuration refers to the number
of queues in the system, their relationship to
the servers. A queue may be a single or a
multiple queue.
Maximum queue size is the maximum number
of customers that may wait in the queue plus
the one’s being served.
Queue Discipline
The queue discipline indicates the order in which
members of the queue are selected for service. It is
most frequently assumed that the customers are
served on a first come fist serve basis.
1. FIFO (First in fist out) also called FCFS ( First
come fist serve)
2. LIFO (Last in first out) also called LCFS ( Last
come first serve) for VIP guest.
3. SIRO (Serve in random order) While allotting
an item with high demand and limited supply.
Service Process
How long the service will take? (Service time
distribution)
How many number of servers available?
Whether the servers are in series (each server
has a separate queue) or in parallel (one queue
for all servers).
 Average time in queue (Wq)
Service
Served
Customers
Customers
Service rate (μ ) Departure
Arrival rate (λ ) Average number in queue (Lq)

Average time in system (Ws)

Average number in system (Ls)
λ = Arrival rate (customer / hr )

μ = Service rate (customer / hr )

ρ = Utilization factor =

Ls = Average number in system (customer) =

Lq = Average number in queue (customer) = ρ Ls

Ws = Average time in system =

Wq = Average time in queue (hr) = ρ Ws

Po = Ideal probability = 1- ρ

P busy = Busy probability = ρ

Probability for more than n customers in the system

= P (n>) = ρn+1
Probability for n or more than n customers in the
system = P (n>) = ρn
 At bank the customers arrive at the average interval of
6 minutes and the teller takes on an average 5 minutes
for serving the person. Calculate
1. Counter utilization level
2. Average no. of customers in service
3. Average no. of customers in queue
4. Average waiting time of the customers in the system
5. Expected average waiting time in the queue
6. Probability that the teller is idle
7. Probability that the banker is busy