An M/M/1 Queueing Example

= mean number of arrivals per time period

= mean number of people or items served per time period
Average number of customers in the system LS =

Average time a customer spends in the system WS =

1
Average number of customers waiting in the queue Lq =
( )

2
Average time a customer spends waiting in the queue Wq =
( )

Utilization factor for the system =

Probability of 0 customers in the system P0 = 1 -

Probability of more than k customers in the system Pk =

1 +

,
_

Example: Peters Drive-In on 16

th
Avenue has one walk-up service window for people who
want to park their cars and eat at a picnic table. On the Friday before a long weekend,
customers arrive at the window at a rate of 30 per hour, following a Poisson distribution.
There is a very large, almost infinite number of hungry customers at this time of the year. The
customers are served on a first come, first served basis, and it takes approximately 1.5
minutes to serve each customer.
We first determine and using the same units of time:
= =
Average number of customers in the system, both waiting and being served:
LS =

=
Average time a customer spends in the system, both waiting and being served:
WS =

1
=
Average number of customers waiting in line (ie length of the queue):
Lq =
( )

2
=
Average amount of time a person spends waiting in line:
Wq =
( )

=
Utilization factor (ie how busy is the server working at the window):
=

=
Probability of there being no customers in the system:
P0 = 1 -

=
Probability of there being more than k customers in the system:
k
Pk =
1 +

,
_

0 Note that this is equal to 1 P0

1
2 Meaning there is a % chance that more
than 2 customers are in the system
3
4

An M/M/S Queueing Example
M = number of channels open
= mean number of arrivals per time period
= mean number of people or items served per time period at each channel
Probability of 0 customers in the system P0 =

,
_

+
1
1
]
1

,
_

M
M
M n
M
M
n
n
!
1
!
1
1
1
0
for M >
Average number of customers in the system LS =
( ) ( )

,
_

0
2
! 1
P
M M
M
Average time a customer spends waiting in the system WS =
( )
( ) ( )

1
! 1
0
2
+

P
M M
M
=

S
L
Average number of customers waiting in the queue Lq = LS -

Average time a customer spends waiting in the queue Wq = WS -

1
=

q
L
Example: Peters Drive-In has two drive-through lanes. Drive-through customers arrive at the
rate of 40 per hour, following a Poisson distribution. Each window takes approximately 2.4
minutes to serve a customer.
We first determine M, and using the same units of time:
M = = =
Probability of 0 customers in the system:
P0 =

,
_

+
1
1
]
1

,
_

M
M
M n
M
M
n
n
!
1
!
1
1
1
0
=
Average number of customers in the system, both waiting and being served:
LS =
( ) ( )

,
_

0
2
! 1
P
M M
M
=
Average time a customer spends in the system, both waiting and being served:
WS =

S
L
=
Average number of customers waiting in line (ie length of the queue):
Lq = LS -

=
Average amount of time a customer spends waiting in the queue:
Wq =

q
L
=
An M/D/1 Queueing Example
= mean number of arrivals per time period
= constant number of people served per time period
Average number of customers waiting in the queue Lq =
( )

2
2

Average time a customer spends waiting in the queue Wq =
( )

2
Average number of customers in the system LS = Lq +

Average time a customer spends waiting in the system WS = Wq +

1
Example: Customers demanding french fries at Peters Drive-In arrive at the restaurant at a
rate of 45 per hour, following a Poisson distribution. French fry orders are processed on a first
come, first served basis, and each order of fries is fried individually in a single basket fryer.
The basket fryer requires exactly 1.2 minutes to prepare an order of fries.
We first determine and using the same units of time:
= =
Average number of customers waiting in line for french fries:
Lq =
( )

2
2
=
Average time a customer spends waiting in line for french fries:
Wq =
( )

2
=
Average number of customers in the system, both waiting and being served:
LS = Lq +

=
Average time a customer spends in the system, both waiting and being served:
WS = Wq +

1
=
A Limited Population Queueing Example
T = average service time
U = average time between unit service requirements
M = number of service channels
X = service factor look up in table D.7 page 818
D = probability unit will have to wait in queue
F = efficiency factor
H = average number of units being served
J = average number of units not in the queue or in service ie units working
L= average number of units waiting for service
Service Factor X =
U T
T
+
Average number waiting L = N(1 F)
Average waiting time W =
( )
L N
U T L

+
=
( )
XF
F T 1
Average number running J = NF(1 X)
Average number being serviced H= FNX
Number in population N = J + L + H
Example: Peters has five milk-shake mixing machines. On average, the machines are
serviced every 12 hours. Breakdowns follow a Poisson distribution, and only Peter himself
knows how to fix the machines. On average, it takes him 1.5 hours to repair a machine after it
has broken down.
We first determine what we know from the question:
T = U = M =
Calculate the Service Factor
X =
U T
T
+
Look up the service factor in table D.7 (page 818) to determine the values:
D = F =
Average number of machines waiting to be serviced:
L = N(1 F) =
Average time machines wait to be serviced:
W =
( )
L N
U T L

+
=
Average number of machines running:
J = NF(1 X) =
Average number of machines being serviced:
H= FNX =