7.

QUEUING THEORY

7.1 Introduction

A group of items waiting to receive service, including those receiving the service is known as a waiting line
or a queue. Queuing theory involves the mathematical study of “queues” or waiting lines. The formation of
waiting lines is a common phenomenon which occurs whenever the current demand for a service exceeds
the current capacity to provide that service. The queues of peoples may be seen at cinema ticket window,
bus stop, reservation office, counters of super market etc. the person waiting in a queue or receiving the
service is called the customer and the person by whom he is serviced is called a server.

7.2 Basic Queuing Process (System) and its Characteristics

The basic queuing process can be described as a process in which the customers arrive for service at a
service at a service counter (or station), wait for their turn in the queue if the server is busy in the service of
the other customer and are served when the server gets free. Finally the customer leave the system as soon
as he is served.

Characteristics of Queuing System

1. The input (or arrival pattern)

2. Queue (or waiting line)
3. The service discipline (or queue discipline)
4. The service mechanism (or service pattern)

Input Queue Service Mechanism

Departure

(Served Units)

Queue discipline

1. The Input (or arrival pattern)

The input describes the pattern in which the customers arrive for service. Since the units for service
(customers) arrive in a random fashion therefore, their arrival pattern can be described in terms of
probabilities.
2. Queue (or waiting line)
The units requiring service enter the queuing system. The maximum number of units permissible in
the system is called the capacity of the system. A queue can be finite or infinite.
3. The service discipline (or queue discipline)
The service discipline refers to the manner in which the members in the queue are chosen for
service.
• First Come First served (FCFS): Examples this service discipline may be seen at a cinema
ticket window, railway ticket counter etc.
• Last in First Out (LIFO): Examples warehouses, piles of plates etc
• Service in a random order (SIRO)
4. The service mechanism
• The pattern according to which the customer are served (follows exponential distribution).
• Facilities given to the customers
 Single queue single server (eg doctor’s clinic, ATM etc)
  Single queue multi server (eg Saloon, cyber café etc)
 Multi queue and multi server (eg railway ticket counter etc)
 Complex queue (eg Mall)
7.3 Customer’s Behaviour

• Balking : A customer leaves the queue because the queue is too long and he has no time to
wait.
• Reneging: A customer leave the queue due to impatience.
• Priorities: Some customers are served before others, regardless of their arrival.
• Jockeying: If there are more than one queue then a customer may leave one queue and join
the other due to its length.

7.4 Some definitions

1. Queue length: number of customers waiting in a queue at any time.

2. Busy period: busy period of a server is the time during which server is busy.
3. Idle period: when all the units are served and the server is free.
4. Mean arrival rate: expected number of arrivals occurring in a time interval of length unity.
5. Mean service rate: expected number of customers being served in a time interval of length
unity.
6. Traffic intensity: ratio of mean arrival rate and the mean service rate.

7.5 Kendall’s Notation

Generally, queuing model may be completely specified in the following symbol (a/ b/ c): (d/ e) a

= probability law for the arrival (inter-arrival) time (I.e. Poisson distribution) b = probability

law according to which customers are served (i.e exponential distribution) c = number of

servers d = capacity of the system e = queue discipline

7.6 Assumption of Queuing models

1. The number of arrival rate is denoted by λ.

2. The arrival should follow Poisson distribution.
3. The service time has an exponential distribution.
4. The average service rate is denoted by µ.
5. Arrivals are from infinite population.
6. The queue discipline is first come first served (FCFS).
7. There is only a single service station.
8. The mean arrival rate is less than the mean service rate i.e. λ < µ.
9. The waiting space available for customers in the queue is infinite.