NASARAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEFFI FACULTY OF NATURAL & APPLIED SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATION 2023/2024 SESSION COURSE TITLE: Queueing Theory

COURSE CODE: CMP 411

Instructions: Answer ALL Questions

 Read through all the questions first, don’t directly attempt one problem as you may miss easier one.
 Make your writing legible as well as your diagrams where necessary.
 Cross out any unused/blank space in the answer booklet.

Total = 30 Marks
Time Allowed: 1½ Hours

QUESTION 1
(i) Explain the following concepts: Balking, Reneging, Priorities and Jockeying in queueing theory.

ANSWERS

(i) Balking: Balking - refers to the behaviour of customers who, upon arrival decide not to join the queue
due to its length or waiting time.
(ii) Reneging: Reneging - refers to the behaviour of customers who, after joining the queue, decide to leave
before being served. It involves a customer who has already joined the queue but later decides to
abandon it due to impatience
(iii) Jockeying: jockeying - refers to the behaviour of customers who switch between multiple queues in an
attempt to minimize their waiting time. Switching of one queue to another is called JOCKEYING.
(iv) Priorities: priorities - refer to the assignment of different levels of importance or urgency to tasks, jobs,
or customers in a queue. It takes place when a value customer walks in and don't stay on the queue in
respect of the number of the queue.

(ii) There are many real-life situations in which the study of queueing theory can provide solutions to
waiting line problems. Show in a tabular form with the heading (Situation, Customers and Service
Facilities), five of such situations.

ANSWER:

Here is a simple table showing five real-life situations where queueing theory can be applied to solve
waiting line problems:

Situation Customers Service Facilities

Patrol station Cars drivers Fuel pumps
Restaurant People buying food Cashiers/waiters
Bank operations People waiting to withdraw/deposit Bank tellers or ATMs
Hospital emergency room Patients Doctors and nurses
Customer service agents or
Call center Callers seeking help
phone lines
(iii) Briefly list and explain the characteristics of a queueing system.

ANSWER:

A queueing system can be completely described by

(i) The input (Arrival patterns)

(ii) The service mechanism (service pattern)
(iii) The queue discipline, and
(iv) Customer behavior.

INPUT → process → Output

(iv) What is traffic intensity? If traffic intensity is 0.30, what is the percentage of time a system remains idle?

ANSWER:

Traffic Intensity is a measure of how busy a queueing system is.

It shows the ratio of the average arrival rate (λ) to the average service rate (μ).

Formula:
λ
Traffic Intensity (ρ)= /μ

 If ρ is close to 1, the system is very busy.

 If ρ is much less than 1, the system is less busy (more idle time).

Given:

 Traffic Intensity (ρ) = 0.30

➤ To Find:

Percentage of time the system remains idle

Idle Time=(1−ρ)=1−0.30=0.70

✅ Answer: The system remains idle 70% of the time.

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NASARAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEFFI FACULTY OF NATURAL & APPLIED SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATION 2022/2023 SESSION
COURSE TITLE: Queuing Theory
COURSE CODE: CMP 411

Instructions: Answer Question One (1) and Any Other Three Questions
Total = 70 Marks
Time Allowed: 2 Hours
Read through all the questions first before attempting, so as to select best questions.
Make your answers concise and clear as well as your diagrams must be readable.
Cross out any unused/blank space in the answer booklet.

QUESTION 1
a) Briefly describe a queuing system. (5 Marks)

A queueing system is a setup where customers or items arrive, wait for service if it’s not immediately available, get
served, and then leave.

Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines or queues, or a branch of operation research that deals
with the analysis and management of queues on various systems.

b) Explain the traffic intensity in mathematical form. (5 Marks)

Traffic Intensity is a measure of how busy a queueing system is.

It shows the ratio of the average arrival rate (λ) to the average service rate (μ).

Formula:
λ
Traffic Intensity mathematical formula: (ρ)= /μ

Where:

 ρ = Traffic intensity
 λ (lambda) = Average arrival rate (customers per unit time)
 μ (mu) = Average service rate (customers served per unit time)

 If ρ is close to 1, the system is very busy.

 If ρ is much less than 1, the system is less busy (more idle time).

c) Differentiate between transient state and steady state. (10 Marks)

Difference Between Transient State and Steady State:

A transient state is the early or changing phase of a queueing system. It happens when the system has just
started or when there is a sudden change, like a new arrival pattern or change in service speed. During this
time, the number of people in the queue or being served changes quickly and is not stable. It is difficult to
predict the system's behavior in this state.

On the other hand, a steady state is when the system has been running for a long time, and everything
becomes stable. In this state, the arrival rate and service rate reach a balance. The system's behavior becomes
predictable, and the performance (like average waiting time or queue length) stays constant over time.

In short, the transient state is temporary and unstable, while the steady state is long-term and stable.

d) Highlight four situations in which the theory of queuing theory can provide the solution to waiting-line
problems. (10 Marks)
Answer:

Here are four real-life situations where queueing theory helps solve waiting-line problems:

1. Petrol Station:
It helps manage how vehicles line up for fuel and how many pumps are needed to reduce long waits.
2. Hospital Waiting Room:
It helps organize patient flow, reduce waiting time, and determine the number of doctors or nurses
required.
3. Bank or ATM:
It helps in planning the number of tellers or ATMs needed to serve customers quickly and avoid long
lines.
4. Supermarket Checkout:
It helps in deciding how many checkout counters to open to reduce customer wait time.
5.  Call Centers:
Helps in deciding the number of agents needed to handle incoming calls without keeping customers
waiting too long.
6.  Fast Food Restaurants:
Helps in managing customer orders and reducing the time people spend in line waiting for food.

QUESTION 2
Given an arrival rate λ and a service rate μ, derive the formula for the queuing model (M/M/1). (15 Marks)
Hint: [Birth and Death Model]

Answer: Derivation of the M/M/1 Queuing Model (Birth and Death Model)

The M/M/1 Queuing Model is a simple and common queueing system used to analyze systems with a
single server. This model assumes:

1. M (Markovian Arrival Process): Customer arrivals follow a Poisson process (i.e., the inter-arrival
times are exponentially distributed with rate λ).
2. M (Markovian Service Process): Service times are exponentially distributed with rate μ.
3. 1: The system has a single server.

The Birth and Death Model is used to derive the queuing formulas. Let's go through the steps:

Step 1: Defining the System

 Arrival Rate (λ): The rate at which customers arrive at the system (customers per time unit).
 Service Rate (μ): The rate at which the server can serve customers (customers per time unit).

Step 2: State Probabilities

In an M/M/1 queue, the system can have any number of customers n in the queue, from 0 to infinity. The
state probability PnP_nPn is the probability that there are n customers in the system. This probability
follows the birth and death process, where:

 Birth: A customer arrives (with rate λ).

 Death: A customer is served (with rate μ).

The steady-state probabilities for an M/M/1 system satisfy the following difference equation:
QUESTION 3
Gold Bank Limited launched an ATM per street in Keffi. Arrival at the ATM booth is considered to be
Poisson with an average of 10 customers per hour.
a) What is the average length of the queue that forms from time to time? (15 Marks)
b) What is the probability that an arrival would expect to have to wait at least three minutes for service at the
newly installed ATM booth? (15 Marks)
c) The bank will install a second ATM booth. How much must the flow of arrivals be ignored in order to
service the second booth? (15 Marks)

QUESTION 4
Consider a single server queuing system with Poisson input and exponential service times. Suppose the
mean arrival rate is λ calling units per hour, the expected service time is 0.25 hours and the maximum
permissible calling units in the system is n. Derive the steady state probability distribution of the number of
calling units in the system, and then calculate the expected number in the system. (15 Marks)

QUESTION 5
A clinic with Poisson arrival spaced 10 minutes apart on the average and exponential service time with the
doctor averaging 3 minutes.
a) What is the probability that arrival will have to wait more than 10 minutes before the doctor becomes
free? (15 Marks)
b) Estimate the fraction of a day that the doctor will be attending to the patients. (15 Marks)
c) Find the average number of patients in the system. (15 Marks)

QUESTION 6
A supermarket has two girls ringing up sales at the counters. If the service time for each customer is
exponential with a mean of 4 minutes and if people arrive in a Poisson fashion at the counter at the rate of 10
per hour, then calculate:
a) The probability of having to wait for service. (15 Marks)
b) The expected percentage of idle time for each girl. (15 Marks)
c) If a customer has to wait, find the expected length of his waiting time. (15 Marks)

QUESTION 2
A warehouse has only one loading dock manned by a three-person crew. Trucks arrive at the loading dock at
an average rate of 4 trucks per hour and the arrival rate is Poisson distribution. The loading of a truck takes
10 minutes on average and can be assumed to be exponentially distributed. The operating cost of a truck is
N20 per hour and the members of the loading crew are paid N6 each per hour. Would you advice the truck
owner to crew of three persons?

QUESTION 3
Obtain the steady state equations for the model (M/M/S (∞/FCFS) which is the birth and death model.