Established by Walter A. Shewhart and Samuel S. Wilks
Editors: David J. Balding, Noel A. C. Cressie, Garrett M. Fitzmaurice, Geof H. Givens, Harvey Goldstein, Geert Molenberghs, David W. Scott, Adrian F. M. Smith, Ruey S. Tsay
Editors Emeriti: J. Stuart Hunter, Iain M. Johnstone, Joseph B. Kadane, Jozef L. Teugels
The Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics is well established and authoritative. It covers many topics of current research interest in both pure and applied statistics and probability theory. Written by leading statisticians and institutions, the titles span both state-of-the-art developments in the field and classical methods.
Reflecting the wide range of current research in statistics, the series encompasses applied, methodological and theoretical statistics, ranging from applications and new techniques made possible by advances in computerized practice to rigorous treatment of theoretical approaches. This series provides essential and invaluable reading for all statisticians, whether in academia, industry, government, or research.
A complete list of titles in this series can be found at
http://www.wiley.com/go/wsps
This edition first published 2018
© 2018 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Edition History
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (1e, 1974); John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (2e, 1985); Wiley-Interscience (3e, 1998); John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (4e, 2008)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
The rights of John F. Shortle, James M. Thompson, Donald Gross, and Carl M. Harris to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted in accordance with law.
Registered Office
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
Editorial Office
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products visit us at www.wiley.com. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty
While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shortle, John F., 1969- author. | Thompson, James M., 1954- author. |
Gross, Donald, author. | Harris, Carl M., 1940-2000 author.
Title: Fundamentals of queueing theory / John F. Shortle, James M. Thompson,
Donald Gross, Carl M. Harris.
Description: Fifth edition. | Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, 2017.
| Series: Wiley series in probability and statistics | Includes
bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017031755 (print) | LCCN 2017041116 (ebook) | ISBN
9781118943564 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118943533 (epub) | ISBN 9781118943526
(cloth) Subjects: LCSH: Queuing theory. Classification: LCC T57.9 (ebook) | LCC T57.9 .S54 2017 (print) | DDC
519.8/2--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017031755
Cover image: ©RyanJLane/Gettyimages
Cover design by Wiley
The first edition of Fundamentals of Queueing Theory, written by Donald Gross and Carl Harris, was published in 1974. Since then, a new edition has appeared approximately once every ten years. In 2005, Donald Gross invited us (John Shortle and James Thompson) to help with a new edition, and we appreciate the opportunity to continue updating this excellent work. The changes in the fifth edition reflect the feedback from numerous students and colleagues since the fourth edition. Almost all of the material from the fourth edition has been kept, but with a fair amount of editing and reorganization. Several new sections have been added. We hope that the changes continue to bring improvements to the text.
One major change is that the first chapter from the fourth edition has been expanded and split into two chapters. The new Chapter 1 contains introductory material specific to queueing theory, while the new Chapter 2 contains general material on stochastic processes. In Chapter 1, a key addition is an expanded and more prominent section on Little's law. The treatment is more rigorous with multiple examples, a geometric proof, and extensions including the distributional form of Little's law and H = λG. Chapter 1 also contains a new section on the psychology of waiting. In Chapter 2, the material on stochastic processes is rewritten and reorganized substantially from the fourth edition. The reorganization makes it more natural for someone who has covered the material elsewhere to skip the chapter. And for a reader who is less familiar with the material, the chapter provides a concise treatment of essential results that are used throughout the text.
The chapter on advanced Markovian models (now Chapter 4) has been edited substantially and contains a new section on fairness in queueing as well as a discussion of processor sharing. The chapter on bounds and approximations (now Chapter 8) includes a new section on fluid queues. Many new examples and problems have been added throughout the text (over 20 new examples and over 60 new problems). Finally, the QtsPlus software has been been updated to run on the latest versions of Excel for both PCs and Macs. The user interface has also been improved significantly.
For errata, updates, and other information about the text and associated QtsPlus software, see the text website:
< http://mason.gmu.edu/∼jshortle/fqt5th.html>.
John F. Shortle
James M. Thompson
Fairfax, Virginia
October 2017
We are grateful for the opportunity participate in the writing of the fourth and fifth editions and acknowledge the enormous amount of work carried out by the original authors, Donald Gross and Carl Harris, in writing the first three editions. We humbly acknowledge that we stand on the shoulders of giants and hope that the changes made in the recent edition continue to improve the quality of the textbook.
We are grateful for the assistance given to us by many professional colleagues and students whose numerous comments and suggestions have been so helpful in improving this text. With heartfelt thanks, we extend special appreciation to our families for their unlimited and continuing encouragement and to all the people at John Wiley & Sons who have been wonderfully supportive. John also appreciates the support of the Volgenau School of Engineering and the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason University.
J. F. S.
J. M. T.
This book is accompanied by a companion website:
www.wiley.com/go/shortle/queueingtheory5e
The Student's website includes:
The Instructor's website (password protected with ProfVal Validation) includes: