# A Simple Queueing Network¶

With recursions it is (nearly) trivial to simulate feedforward networks, that is, networks without feedback or loops. Here is an example based on a program of Margot Jonker.

Here is the code in one file: queueingNetwork.py.

## The fundamental algorithm¶

import numpy as np
from numpy.random import randint
import matplotlib.pylab as plt

np.random.seed(3)


Assume that at the start of period $$n$$ the queue length is $$Q_{n-1}$$, and that in period $$n$$ $$A_n$$ jobs arrive and $$S_n$$ jobs can be served, including the jobs that arrive in period $$n$$. Then the number of jobs $$D_n$$ that can depart from the sytem at the end of period $$n$$ is given by

$D_n = \min\{Q_{n-1}+A_n, S_n\}$

As a consequence, the queue length at the end of period $$n$$ is then equal to

$Q_n = Q_{n-1}+A_n - D_n.$

In a feedforward network the output process of an upstream queue is the input of a downstream queue. Hence, we with the number of departures $$D_n$$ during period $$n$$ we can determine the number of arrivals in downstream stations.

These observations lead to the following algorithm:

def computeQandD(A, S):
N = len(A)
Q = np.empty(N)
D = np.zeros_like(A)
Q[0] = 0
for n in range(1,N):
D[n] = min(Q[n-1] + A[n], S[n])
Q[n] = Q[n-1]+ A[n] - D[n]
return Q, D


## An application¶

Lets consider the following network:

Note in particular that the outputs of queues 1 and 2 feed into queue 3, i.e., queue 3 is a join queue, and that a fraction of $$1/3$$ of the output of queue 5 is sent to queue 6 and and the remaining fraction of $$2/3$$ is sent to queue 7, i.e., queue 5 is a fork queue.

For the sake of the example we take uniformly distributed arrival processes at queues 1, 2, and 3. We also assume that the number of jobs served in a period is uniformly distributed.

def network():
# station 1
A1 = randint(0,201,N)
S1 = randint(0,260,len(A1))
Q1, D1 = computeQandD(A1, S1)

# station 2
A2 = randint(0,201,N)
S2 = randint(0,260,len(A2))
Q2, D2 = computeQandD(A2, S2)

# station 3
A3 = np.sum([D1,D2], axis =0) #join output of queue 1 and 2
S3 = randint(0,540,len(A3))
Q3, D3 = computeQandD(A3, S3)

# station 4
A4 = randint(0,201,N)
S4 = randint(0,301,len(A4))
Q4, D4 = computeQandD(A4, S4)

# station 5
A5 = np.sum([D3,D4], axis =0) #join output of queue 3 and 4
S5 = randint(0,700,len(A5))
Q5, D5 = computeQandD(A5, S5)

# station 6
A6 = D5/3    #fork 1/3 of station 5
A6 = A6.astype(int)
S6 = randint(0,300,len(A6))
Q6, D6 = computeQandD(A6, S6)

# station 7
A7 = D5-A6    #fork the rest of station 5
S7 = randint(100,400,len(A7))
Q7, D7 = computeQandD(A7, S7)

plt.plot(Q1, label="Q1")
plt.plot(Q2, label="Q2")
plt.plot(Q3, label="Q3")
plt.plot(Q4, label="Q4")
plt.plot(Q5, label="Q5")
plt.plot(Q6, label="Q6")
plt.plot(Q7, label="Q7")
plt.legend()
plt.show()


## Results¶

The simulation horizon:

N = 5000

network()


Clearly, queue 5 is the bottleneck. It is interesting to see that the queue length fluctuates so wildly. Quite a number of books claim that it is easy to find the bottleneck in a sequence of machine: just look for the longest queue. This, however, seems easier said then done when queue lenghts vary a lot.