A note on the allocation of queuing facilities using a minisum criterion

Abstract

This paper suggests a formulation and a solution procedure for resource allocation problems which consider a central planner, m static queuing facilities providing a homogeneous service at their locations, and a known set of demand points or customers. It is assumed that upon a request for service the customer is routed to a facility by a probabilistic assignment. The objective is to determine how to allocate a limited number of servers to the facilities, and to specify demand rates from customers to facilities in order to minimize a weighted sum of response times. This sum measures the total time lost in the system due to two sources: travel time from customer to facility locations and waiting time for service at the facilities. The setting does not allow for cooperation between the facilities.

Keywords:

• allocation
• queuing
• facilities