A time-dependent approach to queue simulation - III: system input and facility loading

Abstract

The principal area of discussion is directed towards the definition and description of a total framework of queueing system input for the computer simulation of congestion problems with time-dependent, continuous-flow representation. The generation of load is discussed in terms of the load as seen at the service facilities and is shown to originate at any instant from two effectively independent sources - external to the system and from a second source of real load, the queue. Further discussion is also presented on the various subcomponents of these two load sources, and their respective contributions towards facility utilization and saturation. The significance of the framework described is shown to be its reflection of the dependence of the system operating and behaviour patterns on the input load structure, and in general the provision of a basis for a more direct comparability between the model structure and that of the real system.