Queueing theory

Queueing theory has become an important subject to computer scientists because it forms the mathematical basis for research in computer system performance evaluation. (See, for example, the Special Issue, September 1978, of Computer Surveys on “Queueing Network Models of Computer System Performance,” and the recent conference on “Applied Probability - Computer Science: The Interface,” which was held in Boca Raton, Florida, in January 1981.) This tutorial will attempt to explain the elements of queueing theory so that the audience will understand (1) the kind of assumptions usually made in the construction of queueing models, (2) the kind of mathematical tools ordinarily used in queueing theory, and (3) the strengths and limitations of queueing theory in the design and analysis of computer systems.