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Characterisation of the output process of a discrete-time GI / D / 1 queue, and its application to network performance

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Abstract

In this paper we use the burst factor of a packet stream, which is defined in a general setting, to quantify the long-term variability, or burstiness, of such a stream. We briefly review some existing results to show that this parameter plays an important role in the performance assessment and dimensioning of buffers in network nodes, even in a non-Markovian setting. We then focus on the calculation of this parameter at the egress of a discrete-time GI / D / 1 queueing system, considering different routing scenarios, and show how it can be expressed in terms of the parameters that characterise the arrival process in such a queue. In addition, we demonstrate how these results can be applied to evaluate the buffer performance in the subsequent nodes of a network. The analytic results that are derived throughout this paper are supported by simulations.

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Correspondence to Bart Steyaert.

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This research has been funded by the Interuniversity Attraction Poles Programme initiated by the Belgian Science Policy Office.

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Steyaert, B., Wittevrongel, S. & Bruneel, H. Characterisation of the output process of a discrete-time GI / D / 1 queue, and its application to network performance. Ann Oper Res 252, 175–190 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-015-2049-4

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