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International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation

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An application of closed queueing networks theory in

truck-shovel systems
a a
George Kappas & Tunce M. Yegulalp
a
Henry Krumb School of Mines,Columbia University , New York, USA
Published online: 25 Apr 2007.

To cite this article: George Kappas & Tunce M. Yegulalp (1991) An application of closed queueing networks theory
in truck-shovel systems, International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 5:1, 45-51, DOI:
10.1080/09208119108944286

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 I~ternationalJournal of Surface Mining and Reclamation 5 (1991):45-53

An application of closed queueing networks theory in truck-shovel

systems

George Kappas & Tuncel M.Yegulalp

Henry Krumb School of Mines, Columbia University,New York, USA

ABSTRACT: Primary applications of queueing networks theory have been in the area of computer systems and com-
puter communication networks analysis and performance. The application introduced here is a steady state anal-
ysis of a generalized truck-shovel system in a typical open pit mine. The service time distributions of each
activity are assumed to be of a general form. The approach used here minimizes the error of performance param-
eter estimates of the most saturated service center. The formulation allows one to obtain estimates of system
Downloaded by [Universitaets und Landesbibliothek] at 11:31 11 December 2013

parameters relatively fast and very close to those obtained by simulation. The relative error of the critical
performance parameter estimates as compared to those obtained by simulation do not exceed 5%. The output of
the model can be used within various optimization schemes for design and operational control of open pit min-
t
ing systems.

INTRODUCTION 1977; 1980). The marginal probability expressions

Given the truck fleet characteristics and the loca-
tion and operating characteristics of shovels, se-
lected by some "optimalw design procedure, day-to-
day operation of an open pit mine is strongly af-
fected by various operating or dispatching poli-
cies that can not be arbitrarily determined. The
problem of determining the optimal operating or
dispatching policies also requires forecasts of
system performance by considering various combina-
tions of truck-shovel selections under realistic
conditions. Open pit truck-shovel systems are
viewed here as production networks in which vari-
ous activities are carried out. In order to have a
production advance, a cycle (batch)of these activ-
ities has to be completed. The key observation is
that there are several units involved in the pro-
duction process which do not function indepen-
dently but interact continuously throughout the en-
tire shift. The stochastic nature of the operation
causes the uncertainty in the prediction of perfor-
manc e -
The current state of the art is such that the
analysis of system performance is mainly done by
trial-and-error, using empirical relationships,
and mostly by simulation. There were, however, few
attempts in the past to use cyclic queues with ex-
ponential service times as a tool in analysis of
open-pit systems. The cyclic queue model though,
has limited applications due to the restrictive
form of the transition probability matrix. The as-
sumption that service time distributions are expo-
nential can lead to very high relative errors on
performance parameter estimates. The fact is that
most of the networks in mining are not cyclic and
'the coefficients of variation of service times are
different than 1 in most cases.
In this paper we present a general technique for
obtaining analytical solutions to closed queueing
networks, composed of service centers with gener-
ally distributed service times. The technique con-
siders the first two moments of the service time
distributions and is based on the hypothesis
(Shum, 1980; whitt, 1983a; 1983b) that queueing
networks with queueing disciplines which belong to
one of the four types, namely: first-come, first-
served (FCFS); infinite server (IS); processor
sharing (PS); and last-come, first-served, pre-emp-
tive (LCFSPR), can have product form solutions
even when they are not separable. The model ap-
plies the Buzen algorithm (Buzen, 1971; 1973) and
the extended product form (EPF) technique ( S h ~ n ,
are initially approximated by solving M/G/~/N
queueing systems and the product form solutions
are "scaled" through an iterative algorithm so
that flow equations be satisfied as closely as pos-
sible (Kappas, 1989).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Several researchers have recognized the importance
of queueing theory in the analysis of truck-shovel
systems and similar problems in mining.
Koenigsbergrs first application (Koenigsberg,
1958a) involved modeling of conventional room and
pillar mining activities using the cyclic queues
approach. The same author also applied the cyclic
queue model for analysis of simple mine haulage
systems (Koenigsberg, 1958b). Elbrond (1979) con-
sidered the problem of calculating an open-pit
operationrscapacity using principles of mean
value analysis which is based on a recursive rela-
tion between waiting times. The model estimated
cycle times and capacities of mine transportation
systems assuming that the system is composed of
several subnetworks (circuits) which are cyclic.
The advantage of this model is that it considers
the case in which service time distributions are
not exponential. On the other hand, it has the fol-
lowing disadvantages:
I t does not consider traveling times as in-
finite server (Is) queueing systems. This
can lead to serious underestimations of
throughputs (production rates), especially
when the system is congested.
*It analyzes each node (station) individu-
ally by considering M / M / ~(exponential
interarrival times, exponential service
time), M / D / ~(exponential interarrival
times, deterministic service times) and
D/D/l (deterministic interarrival and ser-
vice times) systems and wcorrection" fac-
tors based on engineering judgment. This
approach is theoretically weak since in
all cases the coefficients of variations
of service and interarrival times are as-
sumed to be not greater than one. his as-
sumption increases the importance of the
wcorrectionw factors significantly.
Another study (Barnes, 1979) supported the idea
that the Koenigsberg and Elbrond models fail to

O 1991 A.A. Balkema, PO. Box 1675,3000 BR Rotterdam, Netherlands

 46
produce satisfactory open-pit production results •.
Barnes pointed out that the Koenigsberg model Buf-
fered from computational difficulties when the num-
ber of trucks andlor shovels increases, and, al-
though seemingly superior but highly empirical,
Elbrond's approach required significant engineer-
ing judgment and refinement in its correction fac-
tors. Barnes, however, did not consider in his own
model that the traveling time segments of the net-
work behave AS IS (infinite server) queueing sys-
tems. I t WAS also suggested by Barnes that the key
to successful queueing modeling was to employ
Erlang/Erlang queueing models for the individual
service centers_ This consideration though, is not
AS helpful as it was considered by Barnes for sev-
eral reasons I
• It can be easily violated in many real
cases since Brlang distribution can approx-
imate actual distributions'only when the
coefficient of variation of service or
interarrival times is less" than one. ~
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• The steady state probabilities are ..not. "
given in product form as it was assumed by'
Barnes since service times are not exponen~'
tial and thus the Koenigsberg for.mulas or
the Buzen algorithm or any other computa-
tional algorithm cannot be used.
The most recent and comprehensive work on the ap-
plication of queueing models in "mining is done by
carmichael (1987). It covers a broad range of'mod-
els and applications on s~heduling, manpower'plan-
ning, productivity analysis and cost anaiysis con-
siderations. It considers several queueing' systems
with exponential, erlanq and hyperexponential - there" are nefther" arrivals of· trucks from outside
interarrival or service time distributions. In ad-
dition, it analyzes several Markovian queueing net-
works. However, it does not include analysis of
general (non-Markovian) queueing networks.
...
THB TRUCK-SHOVEL SYSTBM AS A STOCHASTIC PROCESS
,"
In this work, it will be aaaumed thai· the truck- -"-
shov~l system consists of ' a network in which the
several operations take' place' in various service, ~ ~
centers. Each service center has three" elements: a'"
queue, one or more servers and a' service facility.
The queue, is a waiting line' which usually Is~: I"
formed in front of the service facility, as a re--c~
suit of an irregularIty in the pattern of, arrivals,v
or departureB~ or bert.h, The server may be' active' rz,
(such as a loader) or passive (such as a dumping ~
point or the haulage road). A serVer"may be one of
the·following entitie81~loader, dumping~point,
haulage road or repair land maintenance facility. ~
It is assumed that there are a' finite nUmber·of
service centers in the network.' Each 'seivice.,cen-
ter is characterized by its service rate.arid the
queueing discipline. The service rate represents
the number 'of customers {t'rucks) "served" pet unit
of time; The service rate 'of 'each service center
may be "load depende~t~;'bY this it is'meant that
the service rate may change depending on the
length of the queue of the waiting trucks' and it
can take several forms depep~ing on "th~_qu~uein9
discipline. ~, , " ~"""
The queueing dis~ipline is "the r~l~" tha~ deter-
mines the formation of the'queue,a~d the take-up
of customers (trucks). '.
for , service.
n J,
There
'01'
are four
types of queueing d2scl.p12nes~.,ps (P~o~~~s~r shar-
ing), IS (infinite"server), p~e-~mp~~~e L~FS (last
come, first served) and FCF~ (f~rst,q8me~" first
served). However, in the truck-shovel,",~ys~em, we
consider two kinds ,~f, queue Lnq" ~~scipl!nes,i
• PCPS (first come, "first served), which
will be used for "the'followini types of
service centersi loading, dumping: inter-
sections of haulage roads and repair and
maintenaI)ce; f~cility,. ',~ ... '
• IS (infinite eervecj , which 'will be ap-
plied for haulage road segments between in-
tersections.
The haulage road service centers behave as if
they were queueing systems with infinite number of
servers since any arr2v~ng customer (truck) can
start. traveling immediately upon its arrival. It
is ,assumed that any segment can accommodate all
the" truck~' ihJt~e system at any time. If the slope
of a haulage road is changing, the traveling speed
of a truck is going to change. Thus, the service
rate will be changing throughout the traveling
time segment. A good way to deal with this problem
is to split the traveling time segments into
smaller ones with different service rates so that
the service rates in the resulting service centers
be more representative.
By service time it is meant the time interval
from the instant of initiation of service on a cus-
tomer (truck) to" the instant when the service
"ends. The service time is inversely related to:the
service rate and thus in the case of "load depen-
dent~ service rates, the service times also depend
on the queue size'. . .
The process that governs the arrival of some ser-
vice-seeking customer (truck) is called the ar-
rival process. The points of time in which a group
of or individual customers arrive to join the
queue are called arrival times and the intervals
between consecutive arrival times are called inter-
arrival times.
The number of customers (trucks) in the queueing
network is considered constant. For this reason,
the queueing "network is called "closed" since
of the system nor departures to outside. The cus-
tomers (trucks) are assumed to be identical. Each
customer, after completion of service at a service
center, moves "to another service center according
to some transition probability. The "transition
probability matrix represents the routing and main-
tenance policy-of the mine management and governs
the movem~nt of trucks in the network.
If N is the total number of customers (trucks)
in the network and M is the number of service cen-
ters, then we can define an H dimensional continu-
ous-time, discrete-state stochastic process
·x(r)=(x1(r):...,xm(t)....,xM(t» (I)
which denotes the number of customers in service
center,m, V m = 1, .•• ,M at time t. The state space
of th~~pro6es~ i~(K~lly, 1979): "
(2)
.... :;, ..
where'D~denoteB the state of the process. The size
L-of the st~te space S(N,M) is the number of permu-
tations of N and'M~1 indistinguishable objects and
is given b¥~the follo~ing ~inomial coefficient:
~
.. )
'.. . ..".
.
., ,.L=
..,(
',M+N-I
M-I
.) (3)
Th~ proce~s'x(t) at steady state is not a Markov
proc~s·s·. "It' would have' been a Markov process only
if the queueing network had satisfied the separa-
ble networks'conditions (Baskett et al., 1975).
In this work, however, it is-assumed"that there
are pCPs·service centers with non-exponential ser-~
vice~time distributions. Hence "the process X(t) is
not Markovian~~we shall nevertheless briefly dis-
cuss the properties of Markovian-networks since
the Extended Product Form'technique to be employed
later is based'on some observations on Markovian
..
networks ." ", .
'

The equilibrium joint probability distribution
of the process X(t) (assumed Markovian) is (Kelly,
1979 ):
In the above equation am, ~ m=l, ••• ,H are equi-
librium probabilities satisfying the flow (through-
put) equations:
II'
where rkm denotes the transition probability that
a customer (trucK) departs from service center k
and arrives at service center m. The product pm
bm(r) denotes the effective service rate of ser-
vice center m when there are r customers (trucks)
in this service center. It is noted that the ser-
vice rate in service center m is a function of the
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number of customers (trucks) in this service cen-
ter. The paramete~ pm can be viewed as the number
of customers (trucks) departing service center m
per unit of busy time of the service centet m.
It is clear from equation (5), that the vector
a = (a1,....am,...,aM ) T
is an eigenvector of the transition probability ma-
trix
r
1l
112 ••• 11M
1'21 1'22 ... '7IJ
J steady state probabilities for general networks.
R=
[
rMI'M'Z .. ·rMM
The parameters am, V, m = 1, ••. ,M are viewed as
the relative throughputs since they are the
throughputs for N~l. It is noted that Ql,.··,aM
can be determined up to a mUltiplicative constant
only. Thus any vector ka is also an eigenvector of
the transition probability matrix R. Equation (5)
in fact equates the flow of customers (trucks) in
and out of each service center. The matrix R is ir-
reducible; it is also stochastic, that is, the sum
of the elements of each row is equal ~o 1:
M
L rlj= 1, V i= l, ...,M
j=1
The function Pm(.)is defined by:
o ifr=O
bm(r)= min(r.Sm) if O<r:SN&FCFS
{r if O<r:sN&IS
where Sm is the number of servers in service cen-
ter m. The quantity G(N) in equation (4) is a nor-
malizing constant such that
L "(0) = 1
DeS(N,M)
and is given by the following equation:
M where k is a positive real number. If a* is used
G(N) =L n (11)
DeS(N,M) m-I
,-I
Ii pmbm(r)
If
am
Xm=-
pm
and
47
··(~)=l n
1 if nm=O
(4) n~
(Xm t: ifnm>O (13)
bm (r)
,-I
then equations (4) and (11) become:
,,(n)= G(N)
1
n
M
m-I
Bm(nm) (14)
m = 1•...,M (5) and,
G(N) = Y
DEr(N,M)
n
M
m-I
Bm (nm) (15)
Thus the estimation of steady state probabili-
ties, requires the evaluation of the normalizing
constant G(N). A straight forward evaluation of
G(N) is avoided becAuse the number of feasible
states, given by equation (3), increases rapidly
as a function of Nand M. Despite the large number
of arithmetic operations required to determine
G(N), there exist an efficient algorithm which com-
putes not only G(N) but also G(I), ••• ,G(N-l). The
procedure was developed by Buzen and has since be-
come known 4S the Buzen algorithm (BUZen, 1971;
(6) 1973).
The characteristics of Markovian networks men-
tioned above, will be used next in the description
and analysis of the extended product form tech-
nique. This technique will assume product form
(7)
EXTENDED PRODuCT FORM TECHNIQUE
AS it is pointed out by Reiser at al., (1976),
the process X(t) of the closed network can be
viewed as a B~~atified samoling process of an op~~
net~rk. This means that the state space of the
closed network is generated from the state space
of an open network which has the same number of
service centers, by choosing only the states in
which the total number of customers in the open
network equals N. Bence, the state probabilities
of the closed queueing network can be produced by
conditioning the state probabilities of the open
network on the event that the sum of the customers
(8)
is N.
Given the above rationale, if Fm(nm), VI m=I,2, •
•• , M were the marginal probabilities of the open
Markovian network, then, it can be shown that if
they were used in equations (4) and (13) instead
of the functions Bm(nm), they would lead to the
(9) same steady state probability eetimates for the as-
sumed Markovian network. This observation shows
that the same state probabilities are obtained by
different sets of input parameters. since the
input parameter a, (which is an eigenvector of R),
is the only one that is not determined uniquely,
it can be modified without affecting the state
(10)
probabilities. Therefore, if a* is another eigen-
vector of R, then
(16)
in equation (13) instead of a, the resulting state
probabilities remain the same. Another observation
is that if the factors Bm(~)' ~, m = 1, ••• ,M,
are multiplied by some parameter ~, V, m - 1,
2, ••• ,M, then, it can be shown ea8~ly that the
steady state probabilities of the process do not
(12)
change. The above two observations, lead to the
conclusion that, for Markovian networks, there are
parameters u 1, ••• ,Um and k such that
Fm (nm) = UmBm (nm;/<). II' m=I....,M (17;
 48

The fundamental conclus{on from the above discus-

sion is that, for Markovian networks, one can Usa
marginal probability expressions instead of the
factor. Bm(Dm) in equation. (14) and (15). In the
marginal prooability expressions, the arrival rate
vector can be substituted by any eigenvector of
the transition probability matrix R. The question
is whether the above observation also holds for
non-separable networks i.e., networks in which
Borne or all of the service times follow a general
distribution. In general, the answer is no, but
Shum (1900) postulated that product form expres-
sions for state probabilities can give good approx-
imations of actual state probabilities for non-Mar-
kovian networks, if the marginal probability ex-
pressions obtained from solutions of the individ_
ual queueing systems corresponding to the various
service centers are used in the product form ex-
pressions. This postulate, is the reason for nam-
ing the approach as the extended product form
(EPP) technique. In general networks however, the
state probabilities are not invariant with re-
spect to various arrival rate vectors (input param-
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fm=Xm=~ (22)
Sm pmSm
There are several reasons for defining f m, 8 s
above:
1) When a is large, a customer (truck) has
high prObability to be in service center m (by def-
inition of am ) and thus the chance that the ser-
vice center m to be heavily loaded is high. It
should be mentioned that the objective is to give
greater importance -greater weighing factor- to
the most loaded service centers.
2) When Pm is small, the service center m is rel-
atively slow; this also increases the chance of
the service center m being heavily loaded.
3) When sm is small, the service center m has
small availability of servers; this fact contrib-
utes to larger queues.
The most saturated (critical) service center s
is the one which has the maximum weighing factor.
Hence
M

eters). There is only one set of input parameters 1,= max {1m) .If m=1....,M (23)
which minimizes the difference between actual m=l
otate probabilities and the ones obtained by prod-
uct form expressions. Let k be the estimate of the unknown value of k.
The method to be applied here for finding k is the
The sets of parameters a~ V m a 1,2, ••• ,M are golden section search method. The computer routine
viewed as the relative throughputs. They are used used for this purpose (ZXGSM, IMSL, version 8),
8S arrival rates in the marginal probability ex-
computes k that minimizes the unimodal function
pressions. Since they are functions of k, so are z(k) to a desired accuracy e. The function z(k) is
the marginal probabilities. For this reason, the defined for positive values of k and is assumed to
marginal probability expressions are written as be continuous. The method employed, requires a
P'm(~1k) • known finite interval K which contains the indepen-
The objective 1s to identify the set a~ , V, rna dent variable k. This interval i8 given as fol-
1, ••• ,K, such that it is the closest to the set of lows:
absolute throughputs (arrival rates) ~, V, m =
1,2, •.. ,M. The absolute throughputs (arrival (24)
rates) are functions of k since, by definition,
they are functions of Fm("m;k):
N
Am(k) =!'mL bm (nm)Fm (nm ;k) (18)
nm-t DERIVATION OF MARGINAL PROBABILITIES OF M/G/1/N
QUEUEING SYSTEMS
The arrival rates, as it was mentioned earlier,
satisfy the flow equations -they compose an eigen- The approach to be 'used in obtaining the marginal
vector of R- and since a is also an eigenvector of probabilities Fm(~;k), is operational analysis
R, there should be a constant w SUch that (BUzen, 1976; Denn~ng et al., 1977; Shum, 1980).
Listed below are some definitions. Let
(19) .Fm(~;k), "mcO,I, •.• , N, be the marginal
probability that "m custo~ers are in ser-
since the parameters ..l-(k), V, m CI 1,2, ••• ,M are vice center m which is an MIGI11N queueing
functions of k, w is ;1so a function of k. But system.
~m(k), V, m a 1,2, ••• ,H, defined by (18), are hypo-
,
• F m("m;k), !\n=0,1, ." , N-1 , be the mar-
thetical absolute arrival rates which satisfy the ginal probab~lity that a departing cus-
flow equations, therefore their exact values may tomer from service center m "sees" ~ cus-
not exist. Considering equation (19), let: tomers behind him.
Am(k) .~(Ilm,k), "maO, 1, 2, •.. , be the mar-
wm(k) 1::1 am t If m =1•...,M (20)
g~nal probability that "m customers are in
service center m when it is viewed as an
Adjusting k so that the arrival rates A (k) sat- MIGII queueing system.
isfy equation (19), is equivalent to adju~ting k
The equations that relate the above probabili-
so that all values of wm(k), V, m = 1,2, ••• ,M
ties are:
are equal. Such a value for k may not exist. Thus
an algorithm is necessary for minimizing the dif-
ferences between several values of w (k). For this Fm(nmJ<) = f';' (nm;k) If nm = 0.1..... N-1 (25)
purpose one may look for a value ofmk which mini- Fm(O;k) +Pm
mizes the following function:
Fm(N;k) = 1 _ 1 (26)

z(k) -
_ M
L 1m (~
(k) - 1
)2 (21) where
Fm(O;k) +pm
m-J Ws

F';'(nm;k) = Qm(nm;k) (27)

where ws(k) corresponds to the most saturated ser- N I
vice center and f m is a weighing factor. obvi-
ously, the ideal value of z(k) is O. The weighing
L Qm(j;k)
j=O
factors f , m= 1, ••• ,H are described by the follow-
T
ing equat on:

Thus, in order to calculate Fm(~i k), one can
first calculate ~(nm;k), then substitute in equa-
tion (27) to obta1n Fm(~;k), and then use (25),
(26). Hence the problem 1S reduced to the one of
calculating the marginal probabilities Om(nm;k) of
a MIGll queueing system. Depending on the coeffi-
cient of variation Cm of the service" time distribu-
tion of service center ~, there are basically
four cases: Cm=l, c~=o, Cm <1 and Cm > 1. When
C =1, the service tLme distribution is exponential
a~d the service center m is an MIMI liN queueing
system. The marginal probabilities 0m(nmik) of the
MIMI 1 system are easily obtained and they are
given by the following expression (Kleinrock;
1975):
Qm(nm;k) = (1 - pm )p::'m 'f nm = 0, 1. 2, ..•
49
is required. This relation is developed by mintmiz-
ing the absolute difference d= !Pm1- pm2l, since
the performance of the queueing system defined by
the service center m, is improved by balancing the
two -servers-. The probabilities Om(Om;k) are as
in (33).
It will be assumed that the service centers that
correspond to travel time segments between road in-
tersections behave as if they were queueing sys-
tems with infinite number of servers since any ar-
riving truck can start traveling immediately upon
its arrival. The probabilities Om(Omik) of the sys-
tem are (Kleinrock, 1975):
_am"
(28) e p~ Y nm = 0,1,2.••• (35)

where the utilization factor Pm is estimated as

follows: ESTIMATION OF PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTION PARAMETERS
amk
Pm=-- (29)
I'm computation of performance and production parame-
ters requires the evaluation of expressions that
Downloaded by [Universitaets und Landesbibliothek] at 11:31 11 December 2013

When Cm=O, the probabilities Qm(nm;k) are given by are dependent upon the state probability distribu-
the following expressions (shum, 1980): tion given by equatione (14) and (15). since the
state probabilities are functions of the normaliz-
Qm(O;k) = 1-pm (30) ing constant G(N), we need a tool for computin9
G(N). For this purpose we will use the Buzan algo-
Qm(l;k) = (l-pm)(epm -1) (31) rithm (Buzen, 1971; 1973). To derive the algorithm
let

[~ e jPm(_1)"m-j(jPm)nm.- j + m
Qm(nm;k)=(l-pm)
j_1 (nm - J) I ~(n) = L
nE S(n,m) i=l
n Fi(n/;k)
(jpm)nm -j -1]
(nm _ j _ 1) I '
'f
nm = 2.3.... (32) Y m = 1....,m, n = O,I,...,N (36)
where
m
where the second factor of the r.h.s. in equation
(32) is ignored for j=nm. L ni=n.
i""1
When CmS1, the actual distribution will be ap-
proximated by means of erlang distribution. The By definition, from (15) and (36), G(n)aqM(n),
marginal probabilities are obtained by interpola-
tion of values of marginal probabilities of queue- ¥ , m=!, ••• ,M. The function gM(n) is viewed as the
ing systems that have different coefficients of normalizing constant for the closed queueing net-
variation. The three queueing systems are: a) work in which there are n customers. From (36),
M/D/l. The service times in this system are deter- and for m=l we have 91(n)=F 1(n;k),¥ , n-1, .•• ,N.
ministic (constant) and the coefficient of varia- Also, for n=O, 9m(D)c1,¥ m=l, .•• ,M. For m >1,
tion of the service time distribution is o. b) we have from (36):
M/E2/1 where the service times follow the 2-erlang m
distribution that has a coefficient of variation
of l/{2, and C) MIMI 1 where the service time dis-
~(n) =L Il Fi(n/;k)
n ES(n,m) i=1
tribution is exponential and the coefficient of
variation is 1. Procedures for obtaining the mar- n
ginal probabilities of MIDll and MIMll were dis- = L Fm(j;k)~-I(n-j) (37)
cussed above, thus we have to obtain only the j=O
probabilities Qm(Omik) for the M/E2/l queueing sys-
tem. These probabilities are given as follows: computation of various performance parameters re-
quires the estimation of the marginal probability
distribution of customers in each service center.
Ii nm = 0,1,2,... (33) It is useful to begin by considering the marginal
distribution of customers in the Hth service cen-
ter. The probability that there are j customers in
where zl' 22 are the roots of the characteristic service center Mis:
equation of the z-transform of 0m(Om;k) and A, B
are functions of zl' z2 • P(nM=j) = L J«nl.nz,....nM)
When Cm ~ 1, we use hyperexponential-2 distribu- n ES(n,m); nJr"j
tion for approximating the actual distribution.
The density function of an hyperexponential-2 dis- =F ("k) IPI-1(N-j) (38)
M J. G(N)
tribution is determined by three parameters p, Pml
and Pm2 and is given by the following expression: Marginal distributions of customers at any other
service center can be obtained by permuting the
order in which the service centers are numbered 80
that the facility of interest is designated as the
The queueing system of service center m, is Mth service center and then by applying the algo-
equivalent to one in which there are two servers, rithm to the permuted network. considering that
with service rates of ,um1 and Pm2 respectively,_ the service center of interest is in the Mth posi-
and any arriving customer chooses one of the two tion, we can express the probability that service
servers with probability p and 1-p respectively. center M is idle. For nM=O we have:
~since the distribution function hm(tm) is de-
fined by three parameters p,Pm1and ,um2 and only
the first two moments of the actual distribution (39)
are known, another relation between P,Pml and P m2
 50
The above ie the probability that an arriving also the expected utilization of each server of
customer (truck) will be served immediately. We service center H.
consider that the service center M is busy if at The expected arrival rate at service center H
least ona server of the service center is bUSy. is.
Therefore P(service center M busy) a1-p(nMDO), N
where P(DM-O) is obtained from (38). AM = I'M}; bM IJ)P(nM =j)
)al
consider the event that at least i servers of
service center H are busy if nK ~ i. The probabil-
ity of this event lSI N (N 0)
=I'M}; bMIJ)FM(j;k)8M-1 -) (46)
P(nM ~ i ) C 1 - P(nM < i) )=1 G(N)
The expected utilization PH of the service cen-
I-I
ok) B.H(N - j) ter H can also be expressed by the following ex-
C 1-}; V
FM, G(N) pression: PM= ~M/sM"M)· The expected tims spent by
)aO
(40) a customer in service center H is obtained by the
Y i = 0, 1, ...,SM
Little formula (Little, 1961). E(ttM)= g(nM)/A M,
and the expected time spent by a customer in
All servers 8 M of the service center M are busy queue in service center M iSI E(tqM)Q E(qM)/AH "
(service center ful~y utilized) lac If 8 is the set of service centers corresponding
to dumping or crushing points, and D is the capac-
P(nM ~SM) = 1- P(nM < SM) ity of a truck (tons), then the production rate of
each truck is:
=1-};
'''-1 FM(j;k)KM-1
(N
-/
0)
(41)
)-0 G(N) D
PR = - } ; Am
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(toni /uni. time) (47)

The above equation expresses the probability
that an arriving customer (truck) will join the
queue of service center M. The probability that a
particular server of service center H is busy, is
given by the following expression:
P ( «panicular Kl'ICr is busy) =
NmE(J
and the total production rate (tons / unit time)
of the truck-shovel system is TPR=PR . N. If we as-
sume that the system is in steady state for h
units of time, then the total production (tons) of
the system during this period is TP=TPR • h.

MODEL VERIFICATION
1 _.!. ~ ( 0) F (j k) /1M-I (N - j) (42)
S" )-0 S" - J M; G(N)
In order to test the relative accuracy and speed
of the analytical approach described above, a se-
The probability that i - i n number - particular ries of tests have been conducted. These tests
servers in service center H are busy, iSI were designed to observe the performance of the
model for critical values of the coefficient of
P ( I partkul., ) =1 _ ~ F (j k"'.-I eN - j) + variation of service time distributions and the
~
0

sctverl arc busy M, G(N) number of customers (trucks) in the system. The
)-0
EPF approach was compared to the markovian ap-
proach and monte carlo simulation. In these tests
the difference between the two results were mea-
sured by the absolute error, E, and the relative
error, e, defined as:
The expected number of customers in service cen-
ter M (queue and service) iss E
E =x -X and e=-
X
N
E(nM)c}; jP(nM=j) where x is the value of a system parameter ob-
j-I tained using the analytical approach, and X is the
corresponding value obtained by simulation. These
(N- 0) tests as reported by Kappas (KappaS 1999) led to
OF vok)8M-1 J (44)
J M. G(N) the following conclusions:

A customer will be in queue of service center M • In general, the Extended Product Form
if all servers 8M are occupied. This event will method for obtaining performance and pro-
occur when nM ~ 8 M• Therefore, the expected number duction parameters of a network is found
of customers in queue lSI to be superior to the one based on Marko-
vian assumptions" When the coefficient of
N variation is not equal to or close to
E (q.. ) =}; (j - s" )P(n" =j) zero, the relative error does not exceed
j-sM + 1 0.5

• When the coefficient of variation i,8 near

B'H (N - j) zero, the relative error increases. The
=E(n,,) -)~ JFMV;k)
." 0 0

G(N) factor that determines the magnitude of

~ 0
-S", £J FM(j;k)
j-$jI+l
The expected number of customers in service (not
in queue) is obtained from (44) and (45) • E(C M)=
S(OH) - E(qM)' The expected utilization of service
canter M is the fraction of servers that are occu-
pled. since the expected number of customers in
service is E(c M), the expected utilization PM of
service center M is PHDE(CH)/sM. This represents
the relative error is the coefficient of
variation of the service time distribution
B,H(N - j) (45)
of the most saturated service center. The
G(N) 0
significance of this factor increases when
the coefficient of variation is near zero.
• The weak point of the EPF method is that
it assumes that the arrival process at ser-
vice centers is poisson. This assumption
is not valid for networks in which the ser-
vice time distribution is of a general
form.

• When the coefficient of variation of the
interarrival times is close to 1, the rela-
tive error is small ( below 0.02).
• The time spent for the execution of the
computer program is significant. For exam-
ple, for small networks (2 to 5 service
centers) the CPU time spent on a mainframe
computer waa in the order of one minute.
When the number of customers (N) was small
(N < 10) the CPU time was less than one
minute. When N > 10, the CPU time was in
the order of several minutes, depending on
the number of service centers.
• Execution of the simulation program is
very time consuming, especially when the
precision required for parameter estima-
tion is high. For example, for small net-
works examined in these tests, each run re-
quired more than 5 minutes CPU time when
the relative difference between the consec-
utive values of expected throughputs was
Downloaded by [Universitaets und Landesbibliothek] at 11:31 11 December 2013
not les8 than 1% and the simulation clock
reached 105 units of time.
• The main reasons for the relatively signif-
icant time required for implementing the
EPF approach were:
- Numerical estimation of the optimal
value of k ,
- Estimation of marginal probability
expressions required three steps.
Despite these facts, the authors believe that
significant improvements can be made on CPU time
by improving the efficiency of the computer code.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM
In order to demonstrate the use of this approach
in mining, a simple truck-shovel system is consid-
ered here as an example problem. Five typical ac-
tivities are identified as the service centers of
the system. These areJ
1. Loading
2. Traveling loaded
3. Dumping
4. Traveling empty
5. Repair and/or maintenance.
A schematic representation of this network is
shown in Pigure 1. corresponding transition proba-
bility matrix is assumed to be:
0.00 0.90 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.95 0.00
R = 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.95
0.95 0.00 0.00 0.00
1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
The parameters and attributes of the five ser-
vice centers are listed in Table 1. service time
distributions and their parameters shown in Table
1. are related as follows:
Exponential service time density function:
[(x) = ae-QX ,x;" 0
Erlang (3 - erlang) service time density func-
tion:
[(x) x;"O
Gamma service time density function:
51
x>O (51)
weibull service time density functionJ
(52)
Por IS service centers (haulage roads, i.e.,
travelling loaded and empty) we selected exponen-
tial service times without 1088 of generality
since only the first moment is critical in this
case. We assumed that the capacity of each truck
is 50 tons, and that the system is in steady state
for 6 hours during an 8 hour shift. Production pa-
rameters related to that period, for N • 1, •.. ,15,
calculated using the EPF technique, are shown in
Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. These parameters
are plotted as functions of the number of trucks,
N, in the system. Figure 3. shows that the total
production rate increases with the number of
trucks until N is near 10, and than it is leveled
off near 5 tons/min. The same behavior also holds
for the total production (Figure 4.)~ On the other
hand, the production rate of the system (network)
decreases as N increases (Figure 2.). If the objec-
tive of this exercise WAS to maximize the trans-
ported tonnage with the minimum number of trucks,
then 10 trucks would have been the optimum choice
for this system. Figure 5 shows the expected
throughput for each operation (service center) in
number of trucks per minute, as a function of the
total number of trucks (N) in the system. For N >
10 no significant improvement in throughput is at-
tained. Figure 6 shows the utilization factor for
each operation as a function of N, and Figure 7
shows the expected number of trucks in each opera-
tion. It is clear from these figures that the re-
pair and maintenence operation becomes quickly sat-
urated for N>10, and act AS a bottleneck in the
system. Figure 8 shows the probabilities of find-
ing a service center (operation) bUsy~
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank New york Mining and Min-
eral Resources Research Institute for ~he partial
support provided by the Department Interior'S Min-
eral; Institutes program administered under allot-
ment grant number G1184136~
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