A Difference Equation Approach to the Optimal Control of a Multiclass Queue with Discounted Costs.

Abstract

This report considers the problem of dynamically selecting one of a finite number of customer classes to serve so that the total expected discounted cost over an infinite horizon is minimized. Decisions are allowed at the time of service completion, or if the server is idle, at the time of customer arrival. It is assumed that customers arrive according to independent Poisson processes with different arrival rates for the various customer classes. Service times are independently distributed and identically distributed for customers of a given class. The cost structure is linear and includes class-dependent holding costs, service costs, and rewards. Difference equations are used to derive a closed form expression for total expected discounted cost given the process begins with an arbitrary number of customers in each customer class in the queue and a non-preemptive priority discipline is used.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADA017658

Entities

People

  • Frank C. Reed

Organizations

  • Stanford University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Difference Equations
  • Differential Equations
  • Equations
  • Mathematical Analysis
  • Mathematics

Readers

  • Mathematical Modeling and Probability Theory.