Queueing Systems with a Removable Service Station

Abstract

A single-server queueing system with constant Poisson input is considered and the partial elimination of the station's idle fraction is envisaged by intermittent close-down and set-up. The rule pertaining to the dismantling and re-establishing of the service station—the management doctrine—is based on the instantaneous size of the queue, but these processes are assumed to consume time. Operating characteristics of such systems—in particular, average queue length and queueing time—are evaluated. A cost structure is superimposed on the system and optimization procedures are outlined. The close relationship with (a) priority queueing and (b) storage models is pointed out.

This paper was read at the 10th International Meeting of the Institute of Management Sciences, Tokyo, August 1963.

^‡This author is on leave of absence from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; while at the University of North Carolina, his research has been supported by O.N.R. Contract No. Nonr-855(09). Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose of the United States Government.

This paper was read at the 10th International Meeting of the Institute of Management Sciences, Tokyo, August 1963.

^‡This author is on leave of absence from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; while at the University of North Carolina, his research has been supported by O.N.R. Contract No. Nonr-855(09). Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose of the United States Government.