Queuing Theory

• Waiting for service is part of our daily life.

We wait to eat at restaurants, queue up at
checkout counters in super markets, and line
up for service in Banks. Unfortunately we
cannot eliminate waiting without incurring
expenses.
• Queuing Theory deals with problems, which
involve queuing (or waiting). The study of
queues determines the measure of
performance of a queuing situation, such as
average waiting time and the average queue
length.
• Queues form because resources are limited.
In fact it makes economic sense to have
queues. For example how many checkout
counters a supermarket would need to avoid
queuing?
• In designing queuing systems we need to aim
for a balance between service to customers
(short queues imply many servers) and
economic considerations (not too many
servers).
 Elements of a Queuing Model

• The actors in a queuing situation are the

customers and the server.
• On arrival at the facility, the customers can
start service immediately or wait in a queue
if the facility is occupied.
• If the queue is empty, the facility becomes idle
until a new customer arrives.
• To analyze queues:

– Arrival of customers is represented by the

interarrival time.

– Service is described by the service time per

customer.
• Queue Size
– Finite size
– Infinite size
• Queue discipline
– The queue discipline represents the order in which
the customers are selected from a queue. The
common disciplines are:
• First Come First Served (FCFS)
• Last Come First Served (LCFS)
• Service in Random Order (SIRO)
• Based on priority
 Queuing Notation

  to be the mean (average) number of arrivals

per time period. Ie. The mean arrival rate.

  to be the mean (average) number of

customers served per time period. Ie, the
mean service rate.
• The standard notation used to classify queuing
systems is: A/B/C : D/E where,
A – Probability distribution for the arrival process.
B – Probability distribution for the service process.
C – Number of servers
D – Maximum number of customers allowed in the
queue.
E – Queue discipline.
• The common options for A and B are:
– M for a Poisson’s arrival distribution or
an exponential service distribution.
 For example:
Single server Queue discipline

M / M / 1 :  / FCFS
Capacity of the queue
Arrival time
follows a Service time
Poisson’s Distribution follows an Exponential
Distribution
 Model 1: M/M/1 : /FCFS
1. Utilization Factor

 = /
  Mean arrival rate
  Mean service rate
2. Expected number of units in the queue
or queue length.

Lq =  / ( -  )
2

3. Expected waiting time in the queue.

Wq = Lq/ 
4. Expected number of units in the system.

L = Lq +  /

5. Expected waiting time in the system.

W = Wq +1/ 
6. Probability that an arrival will have to
wait more than “w” (w>0) waiting time
in the queue.

Prob. = ( /)e (-)w

7. Probability that an arrival will have to
wait more than “v” (v>0) waiting time
in the system.

Prob. = e (-)v
Example 1:

Arrivals at a telephone booth are considered to be

Poisson’s distribution at an average of 5 minutes
between one arrival and the next. The length of the
phone calls is exponential with a mean of 4 minutes.
Determine:
a) Expected number of persons in the queue.
b) Expected waiting time in the queue.
c) Expected number of persons in the system.
d) Expected waiting time in the system.
e) Percentage of the time the telephone booth is
occupied.
Mean arrival rate :  = 1/5 X 60
= 12/hr

Mean service rate :  = 1/4 X 60

= 15/hr
1. Lq = 2/ ( -  )
= 122/15(15-12)
= 3.2
≈ 3 persons

2. Wq = Lq/ 
= 3.2/12
= 0.267 hours
≈ 16 minutes
3. L = Lq + /
= 3.2 + 12/15
≈ 4 persons

4. W = Wq + 1/
= 0.267 + 1/15
= 0.334 hours
≈ 20 minutes
5.  = (/ ) x 100
= (12/15) x 100
= 80%
Example 2:

A box office ticket window is manned by a

single clerk. Customers arrive and purchase
tickets according to Poisson’s distribution with a
mean rate of 30/hr. The time required to serve a
customer is an exponential distribution with a
mean of 90 seconds.
Determine:
a) Average queue length.
b) Average waiting time in the system.
c) Probability of a customer waiting in the
queue for more than 10 minutes.
d) The percentage of the time the clerk is
busy.
Mean arrival rate :  = 30/hr

Mean service rate :  = 1/90 X 60 X 60

= 40/hr
1. Lq = 2/ ( -  )
= 302/40(40-30)
= 2.25
≈ 2 persons

2. Wq = Lq/ 
= 2.25/30
= 0.075 hours
≈ 4.5 minutes
3. Prob. = ( /)e (-)w
=(30/40) e-10x1/6
= 0.75 e-1.67
=0.141

4.  = (/ ) x 100
= (30/40) x 100
= 75%
Example 3:
A departmental secretary receives an average of
8 jobs/hr. to perform a job the secretary takes an
average of 6 minutes. Determine:
a) Average number of jobs in the system.
b) Average waiting time for a job in the system.
Mean arrival rate :  = 8/hr

Mean service rate :  = 1/6 X 60

= 10/hr
1. Lq = 2/ ( -  )
= 82/10(10-8)
= 3.2
L = Lq + /
= 3.2 + 8/10
= 4 jobs
2. Wq = Lq/ 
= 3.2/8
= 0.4 hours
W = Wq + 1/ 
= 0.4 + 1/10
= 0.5hrs
= 30 minutes
Example 4:

At a public telephone booth in a post office the

arrivals are considered to be a Poisson’s
distribution with an average inter arrival time of
12 minutes. The length of a phone call is
exponential with a mean of 4 minutes.
Determine:
a) The probability that an arrival will have
to wait in the queue for more than 5
minutes before the phone is free.
b) The probability that an arrival will not
have to wait for the phone.
Mean arrival rate :  = 1/12 X 60
= 5/hr

Mean service rate :  = 1/4 X 60

= 15/hr
1. Prob. = ( /)e (-)w
= (5/15) e-10x5/60
= 0.33e-0.83
=0.144

2. Prob. = 1 - ( /)
= 1 – 5/15
= 0.667 = 67%
Example 5:

In a rural hospital patients arrival is considered

to be Poisson’s with an inter arrival time of 10
minutes. The examination and dispensing time
may be assumed to be an exponential
distribution with an average of 6 minutes.
Determine:
a) The probability that a patient can straight
away see the doctor.
b) The percentage of the time the doctor is
busy.
c) Average number of patients in the system.
d) Average waiting time in the system

e) Suppose the hospital wants to recruit

another doctor when the waiting time is
30 minutes in the queue. Find how large
 should be to justify a second doctor.
Mean arrival rate :  = 1/10 X 60
= 6/hr

Mean service rate :  = 1/6 X 60

= 10/hr
e) Wq = Lq/ 
= 2/ .  ( -  )
30/60 = /10(10- )
12  =100
 = 8.33/hr
a) 0.4
b) 60%
c) 2 persons
d) 0.25hrs (15 min)