Queueing Theory

Queueing Theory deals with systems where there is contention for resources, but the demands are only known probabilistically. This book can be considered as either a monograph or a textbook on the subject, and thus is aimed at two audiences. It can be useful for those who already know queueing theory, but would like to know more about the linear algebraic approach. It can also be used as a textbook in a first course on queueing theory for students who feel more comfortable with matrices and algebraic arguments than with probability theory. The equations are well-suited to easy computation. The text has much discussion on how various properties can be computed using any language that has built-in matrix operations (e.g., MATLAB, Mathematica, Maple). To help with physical insight, there are over 80 figures, numerous examples, and many exercises distributed throughout the book. There are over 50 books on queueing theory that are available today and most practitioners have several of them on their shelves. Because of its unusual approach, this book would be an excellent addition. It would also make a good supplement where another book was selected as the primary text for a course in system performance modelling. This second edition has been greatly expanded and updated thoughout, including a new chapter on semi-Markov processes and new material on representations of distributions. In particular, there is much discussion of power-tailed distributions and their effects on queues. Lester Lipsky is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Connecticut.