QUEUING THEORY

Queuing theory deals with problems that involve waiting

(or queuing). It is quite common that instances of queue
occurs everyday in our daily life.
Examples of queues or long waiting lines might be
➢Waiting for service in bank and at reservation counter.
➢Waiting for a train or bus.
➢Waiting at barber saloon.
➢Waiting at doctors’ clinic.
 Queuing Theory
Queuing theory is the mathematical approach to
the analysis of waiting lines.
Goal of queuing analysis is to minimize the
sum of two costs
1. Customer waiting costs
2. Service capacity costs
Basic elements of Queuing System
Basic Structure
 Characteristics of a Queuing System
• There are three parts to a queuing system
1.The arrivals or inputs to the system (sometimes referred to
as the calling population)
2.The queue or waiting line itself
3.The service facility
 Elements of Queuing System
Elements of Queuing System
Arrival Distribution

Service Distribution

Service Channel

Elements of Queuing
Models Service Discipline

Max. No. of
Customer allowed

Calling Source

Customer’s
Behavior
 Arrival
• Arrival Characteristics have three major characteristics,
size, pattern, and behavior
– Size of the calling population
• Can be either unlimited (essentially infinite) or limited
(finite)
– Pattern of arrivals
• Can arrive according to a known pattern or can arrive
randomly
• Random arrivals generally follow a Poisson
distribution
Poisson Distribution Arrival pattern
•Customers arrive in
scheduled or random
probability
fashion.
•The time duration
between each
customers’ arrival is
known as inter
arrival time. We
Arrival per unit time(λ) assume it to follow
Poisson
Distribution
 Behavior of arrivals
• Join the Queue- Most queuing models
assume customers are patient and will wait in
the queue until they are served
• Balking- refers to customers who refuse to
join the queue
– Reneging- customers enter the queue but
become impatient and leave without receiving
their service
• Jockeying- When a customer shifts from one
queue to another.
 Service
Exponential Distribution Service Pattern
•Number of servers
and speed of service
to be considered.
probability

•The time taken by

a server to service a
customer is known
as Service Time.
Customer served It is represented by
per unit time (μ) Exponential
Distribution
Service Channels
• Single channel queuing system

• Multi channel queuing system

• Single channel multi phase system

• Multi channel multi phase system

 Waiting Line Characteristics
– Waiting lines can be either limited or unlimited
– Queue discipline refers to the rule by which
customers in the line receive service
• FCFS (First-Come-First-Served)
• LCFS (Last-Come-First-Served)
• Service in random order
• Priority service
– The most common rule is first-in, first-out (FIFO)
Traffic intensity
The ratio λ/μ is called the traffic intensity or the
utilization factor and it determines the degree to
which the capacity of service station is utilized.
M/M/1 (GD/∞/ ∞) Single-Channel
M/M/1 (GD/N/ ∞) Single-Channel
M/M/c (GD/ ∞ / ∞) Multi-Channel
M/M/c (GD/ N / ∞) Multi-Channel
 Measuring Queue Performance
• ρ = λ / μ (utilization factor )
• n = total number of customers in the system
• c = number of parallel service channels
• L q= average number in the queue
• Ls = average number in the system
• Wq = average waiting time
• Ws = average time in the system
• P0= probability of 0 customers in system
• Pn= probability of exactly n customers in system
M/M/1 (GD/∞/ ∞) Single-Channel
(Question-1) Students arrive at the head office
according to a Poisson input process with a
mean rate of 40 per hour. The time required to
serve a student has an exponential distribution
with a mean of 50 per hour. Assume that the
students are served by a single individual, find
the average waiting time of a student.
(Question-2) New Delhi Railway Station has a single
ticket counter. During the rush hours, customers arrive
at the rate of 10 per hour. The average number of
customers that can be served is 12 per hour. Find out
the following:
a) Probability that the ticket counter is free.
b) Average number of customers in the queue.
(Question-3) At Bharat petrol pump, customers arrive according
to a Poisson process with an average time of 5 minutes between
arrivals. The service time is exponentially distributed with mean
time= 2 minutes. On the basis of this information, find out:
a) What would be the average queue length?
b) What would be the average number of customers in the
queuing system?
c) What is the average time spent by a car in the petrol
pump?
d) What is the average waiting time of a car before receiving
petrol?
(Question-4) In a bank with a single sever, there are two
chairs for waiting customers. On an average one
customer arrives 12 minutes and each customer takes 6
minutes for getting served. Make suitable assumption,
find
a) The probability that an arrival will get a chair to sit on.
b)The probability that an arrival will have to stand.
c) Expected waiting time of a customer.
(Question-5) John Macko is a student at
Ozark U. He does odd jobs to supplement
his income. Job requests come every 5
days on the average, but the time between
requests is exponential. The time for
completing a job is also exponential with
mean 4 days. What is the probability that
John will be out of jobs?
(Question-6) A fast-food restaurant has one drive-in window. Cars
arrive according to a Poisson distribution at the rate of 2 cars every
5 minutes. The space in front of the window can accommodate at
most 10 cars, including the one being served. Other cars can wait
outside this space if necessary. The service time per customer is
exponential, with a mean of 1.5 minutes. Determine the following:
a) The probability that the facility is idle.
b) The expected number of customers waiting to be served.
c) The expected waiting time until a customer reaches the
window to place an order.
d) The probability that the waiting line will exceed the 10 space
capacity.
(Question-7) Customer arrive at a one-window drive-in bank
according to a Poisson distribution, with a mean of 10 per hour.
The service time per customer is exponential, with a mean of 5
minutes. There are three spaces in front of the window,
including the car being served. Other arriving cars line up
outside this 3-car space.
a) What is the Probability that an arriving car will not get
service immediately but will find an empty space?
b) What is the probability that an arriving car will wait outside
the designated 3-car space?
c) How long is an arriving customer expected to wait before
starting service?
M/M/1 (GD/N/ ∞) Single-Channel
ρ=λ/μ
Now we can calculate Ws, Wq and Lq from Ls using λeff
(Question-8) A cafeteria can seat a maximum of 50
persons. Customers arrive in a Poisson stream at the
rate of 10 per hour and are served (one at a time) at the
rate of 12 per hour.
a) What is the probability that an arriving customer
will not eat in the cafeteria because it is full?
b) Suppose that three customers would like to be
seated together. What is the probability that their
wish can be fulfilled?
(Question-9) Patients arrive at a 1 –doctor clinic according to a
Poisson distribution at the rate of 20 patients per hour. The waiting
room does not accommodate more than 14 patients. Examination time
per patient is exponential, with a mean of 8 minutes.
a) Find the effective arrival rate at the clinic.
b) What is the probability that an arriving patient will get service
immediately?
c) What is the Probability that an arriving patient will not get service
immediately but will find an empty space in the waiting room?
d) What is the expected total time a patient spends in the clinic?
(Question-10) The time barber Joe takes to give a haircut is
exponential with a mean of 12 minutes. Because of his
popularity, customers usually arrive (according to a Poisson
distribution) at a rate much higher than Joe can handle: six
customers per hour. Joe really will feel comfortable if the
arrival rate is effectively reduced to about four customers
per hour. To accomplish this goal, he came up with the idea
of providing limited seating in the waiting area so that
newly arriving customers will go elsewhere when they
discover that all the seats are taken. How many seats should
Joe provide to accomplish his goal?
M/M/c (GD/ ∞ / ∞) Multi-Channel
Average number of busy server,
(Question-11) McBurger fast food restaurant has 3 cashiers.
Customer arrive according to a Poisson distribution every 3 minutes
and form one line to be served by the first available cashier. The time
to fill an order is exponentially distributed with a mean of 5 minutes.
The waiting room inside the restaurant is limited. However, the food
is good, and customers are willing to line up outside the restaurant, if
necessary. Determine the following:
a) The probability that an arriving customer will wait in line.
b) The average length of the waiting line.
c) The expected total time a customer spends in the restaurant.
d) The probability that all 3 cashiers are busy.
e) The probability that all 3 cashiers are idle.
f) The average utilization of the cashiers.
M/M/c (GD/ N / ∞) Multi-Channel
(Question-12) Eat & Gas convenience store operates a two-
pump gas station. The lane leading to the pumps can house at
most 3 cars, excluding those being serviced. Arriving cars go
elsewhere if the lane is full. The distribution of arriving cars is
Poisson with mean 20 per hour. The time to fill up and pay for
the purchase is exponential with mean 6 minutes. Determine
the following:
a) Percentage of cars that will seek business elsewhere.
b) Percent utilization of the two pumps.
c) Probability that an arriving car will not start service
immediately but will find an empty space in the lane.