Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2016
The paper studies the sensitivity of the throughput with respect to a mean service rate in a closed queueing network with exponentially distributed service requirements and state-dependent service rates. The study is based on perturbation analysis of queueing networks. A new concept, the realization factor of a perturbation, is introduced. The properties of realization factors are discussed, and a set of equations specifying the realization factors are derived. The elasticity of the steady state throughput with respect to a mean service rate equals the product of the steady state probability and the corresponding realization factor. This elasticity can be estimated by applying a perturbation analysis algorithm to a sample path of the system. The sample path elasticity of the throughput with respect to a mean service rate converges with probability 1 to the elasticity of the steady state throughput. The theory provides an analytical method of calculating the throughput sensitivity and justifies the application of perturbation analysis.
This work was initiated when the author was with the Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.