Measuring the Queue’s Performance

Measures of a waiting-
line system’s
performance:
1. Average time that each customer or object spends in the queue.
2. Average queue length.
3. Average time that each customer spends in the system (waiting time plus
service time).
4. Average number of customers in the system.
5. Probability that the service facility will be idle.
6. Utilization factor for the system.
7. Probability of a specific number of customers in the system.
 Components of a Basic Queuing Process

Input Source The Queuing System

Served
Calling Jobs Service Jobs
Queue Mechanism
Population
leave the
system

Arrival Queue
Process Discipline
Service
Queue
Process
Configuration
Components of a Basic Queuing Process

The calling population

– The population from which customers/jobs originate

– The size can be:
• finite
• or infinite (most common)
– Composition can be:
• homogeneous
(only one type of customers/ jobs)
• or heterogeneous
(several different kinds of customers/jobs)
 Components of a Basic Queuing Process
Arrival System
• Arrival Populations are either…
• Limited (EG: Only people age 21 or over.)
• Unlimited (EG: cars arriving at a toll booth)
• Arrival Patterns are either…
• Random (Each arrival is independent)

• Scheduled (EG: Doctor’s office visits)

• Behavior of the Arrivals

• Balking (Seeing a long line and avoiding it)
• Reneging (Get tired of waiting and leave the line)
• Jockeying (Switching lines)
© 2013 Lew Hofmann
 Components of a Basic Queuing Process
The Queue Discipline (line)

• Queue Length (line length) is either..

• Unlimited (EG: cars in line at a toll booth)
• Limited (Finite) EG: # of e-mail messages allowed.
• Queue Discipline (order of service)
• FIFO (First-In, First-Out)
• LIFO (Last-In, First-Out)
• SIRO (Service In Random Order)

• Priority

© 2013 Lew Hofmann

Components of a Basic Queuing Process
 The queue configuration
– Specifies the number of queues
• Single or multiple lines to a number of service
stations
– Their location
– Their effect on customer behavior
• Balking and reneging
– Their maximum size (# of jobs the queue can hold)
• Distinction between infinite and finite capacity

6
 The Service Facility (Mechanism)
• Channels are the paths (ways to get through
the system) after getting in line?

• EG: McDonalds drive-thru is one channel.

• Phases are the number of stops a
customer must make, after getting in
line?
(Single-phase means only one stop for service.)

• McDonalds drive-thru is a three-phase system:

Order  Pay  Pick-up
© 2013 Lew Hofmann
 Channels and Phases
• Channel
– Is the number of parallel servers for servicing
arriving customers
• Phases
– Denotes the number of sequential servers each
customer must go through to complete service
 Basic Waiting Line Structures
• There are four basic structures according to
the nature of the service facilities
– Single-channel, single-phase
– Single-channel, multiple-phase
– Multiple-channel, single-phase
– Multiple-channel, multiple-phase
Single-channel, Single-phase
One way through the system
and one stop for service

Service
Facility
 Multi-channel, Single-phase
Once in line, you have at least two choices of how to get through the
system, but only one stop.

Service
Facility

Service
Facility
 Multi-channel, Multi-phase
Once in line, you have at least two choices (channels) of how to get
through the system and at least two stops (phases).

Service Service
Facility Facility

Service Service
Facility Facility
Four Single-channel, Single-phase Systems
(Once in line, you only have one channel and one stop.)

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

Service
Facility
 One, Multi-channel, Single-Phase System
(Once in line you have four possible paths through the system, but
only one stop.)

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

Service
Facility
 Assumptions We Will Use
• The Rate of Service must be faster than the Rate of
Arrivals. (It is unsolvable if customers arrive faster than they can be served.)
• Always enter the service rate for 1 server. The model will compute the total
service rate based on the number of servers.

• FIFO (First In, First Out) (Customers are served in the order they arrive.)
• Arrivals are unlimited (infinite)
• Arrivals are random rather than scheduled.
• Customers arrive independently of each other.
• Service times can vary from one customer to another, and
are independent of each other. (Customers may have different service
needs and times.)
 Problem
The computer lab at State University has a help desk to assist students working on
computer spreadsheet assignments. The students patiently form a single line in front of
the desk to wait for help. Students are served based on a first-come, first-served priority
rule. On average, 15 students per hour arrive at the help desk. Student arrivals are best
described using a Poisson distribution.
The help desk server can help an average of 20 students per hour, with the service rate
being described by an exponential distribution. Calculate the following operating
characteristics of the service system.

(a) The average utilization of the help desk server

(b) The average number of students in the system
(c) The average number of students waiting in line
(d) The average time a student spends in the system
(e) The average time a student spends waiting in line
(f) The probability of having more than 4 students in the system

16
Formulae
The computer lab at State University has a help desk to assist students working
on computer spreadsheet assignments. The students patiently form a single line
in front of the desk to wait for help. Students are served based on a first-come,
first-served priority rule. On average, 15 students per hour arrive at the help
desk. Student arrivals are best described using a Poisson distribution.

The help desk server can help an average of 20 students per hour, with the
service rate being described by an exponential distribution. Calculate the
following operating characteristics of the service system.

(a) The average utilization of the help desk server

(b) The average number of students in the system
(c) The average number of students waiting in line
(d) The average time a student spends in the system
(e) The average time a student spends waiting in line
(f) The probability of having more than 4 students in the system
Probability of having any number of students in system = 1

Probability of having more than 4 students in system = 1 – (Probability of having 0

students in the system + probability of having 1 student in the system + probability of
having 2 students in the system + probability of having 3 students in the system +
probability of having 4 students in the system)

= 1 – (P0 +P1+P2+P3+P4)