European Journal of Operational Research 201 (2010) 786–790

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European Journal of Operational Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ejor

Stochastics and Statistics

A single-server batch arrival queue with returning customers

G.I. Falin *
Department of Probability Theory, Mechanics and Mathematics Faculty, Moscow State University, Moscow 119992, Russian Federation

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: We consider a new class of batch arrival retrial queues. By contrast to standard batch arrival retrial
Received 19 November 2008 queues we assume if a batch of primary customers arrives into the system and the server is free then
Accepted 24 March 2009 one of the customers starts to be served and the others join the queue and then are served according
Available online 29 March 2009
to some discipline. With the help of Lyapunov functions we have obtained a necessary and sufficient con-
dition for ergodicity of embedded Markov chain and the joint distribution of the number of customers in
Keywords: the queue and the number of customers in the orbit in steady state. We also have suggested an approx-
Queueing
imate method of analysis based on the corresponding model with losses.
Markov processes
Retrials
Ó 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Batch arrivals
Steady state

1. Introduction and Moutzoukis (1995) investigated a retrial queue with batch

The goal of the present note is to introduce and investigate a
new class of queueing systems with retrials (also known as sys-
tems with repeated calls, retrial queues, queues with returning
customers, repeated orders, etc.). This sort of queueing models is
characterized by the following feature: a customer arriving when
all servers accessible for him are busy leaves the service area but
after some random time repeats his demand. This feature plays a
special role in several computer and communication networks.
Other applications include stacked aircraft waiting to land, queues
of retail shoppers who may leave a long waiting line hoping to re-
turn later when the line may be shorter, so that the area of possible
applications of such systems is wide. Reader may find more details
in monographs Falin and Templeton (1997) and Artalejo and Go-
mez-Corral (2008), which contain the main mathematical results
of the theory of retrial queues, bibliographical remarks, lists of ref-
erences, etc.
Batch arrival retrial queues were considered for the first time by
Falin (1976), who used the embedded Markov chain technique to
derive the joint distribution of the channel state and the queue
length. Another approach to the problem was proposed by Yang
and Templeton (1987). A more detailed analysis of the model
was given by Falin (1981), who studied the nonstationary regime
and the busy period. Multiclass batch arrival retrial queues were
considered by Falin (1988) and Kulkarni (1986). Grishechkin
(1992) used branching processes with immigration to study wait-
ing time process in multiclass batch arrival retrial queues. Langaris
* Tel.: +7 495 939 1403.
E-mail address: gennadi_falin@mtu-net.ru
arrivals, priorities and server vacations. In the recent publications
He et al. (2000), Dudin and Klimenok (2000), Breuer et al. (2002),
Dudin et al. (2004), Breuer et al. (2005), Li et al. (2006), Kim
et al. (2007), Kim et al. (2008), Ke and Chang (2009) on batch arri-
val retrial queues it is usually assumed that the input flow is a
Batch Arrival Markovian Process (BMAP).
It is assumed in all these models that if a batch of primary cus-
tomers arrives into the system and the server is free then one of
the customers starts to be served and the others leave the service
area and try their luck later on independently of each other. By
contrast to this in the present note we assume that all these cus-
tomers join the queue and wait for service together. Such a situa-
tion arises in specific communication protocols, retail shopping
queues, etc.
2. Model description
Consider a single server queueing system at which groups of
customers arrive according to a Poisson process with rate k. At
every arrival epoch a batch of k primary calls arrives with probabil-
ity ck . These customers are identified as primary customers. We de-
note the mean batch size by Mc and the variance of the batch size
P
by r2c . Besides we denote by cðzÞ ¼ 1 k
k¼1 z ck the generating func-
tion of the batch size distribution.
If the server is free at the arrival epoch, then one of the custom-
ers from the group begins his service and the rest join an ordinary
queue and then are served in some discipline such as FCFS or ran-
dom order.
If the server is busy at the arrival epoch, then all customers from
the group leave the service area and form sources of repeated calls.

0377-2217/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2009.03.033
 G.I. Falin / European Journal of Operational Research 201 (2010) 786–790 787

The pool of sources of repeated calls may be viewed as a sort of arrived into the system during the service period. As we have
queue and often is said to be the orbit. Every such source produces noted, Ezm ¼ kðzÞ. Thus,
a Poisson process of repeated calls with intensity l. If an incoming  
E zRdþ1 jRd ¼ n; E0 ¼ zn1 kðzÞ: ð1Þ
repeated call finds the server free, it is served and leaves the sys-
tem after service, while the source which produced this repeated 2. with probability kci
a group of i new customer arrives before
kþln
call disappears. Otherwise, the system state does not change. arrival of a repeated call from the orbit. Immediately after
Clearly a customer from the orbit can occupy the server only if this arrival the server begins the service of the customers
there is no primary customer in the queue in front of the server. from this group. The server is busy during i independent ser-
Thus, the returning customers may be viewed as low priority vice times and when all customers from the group are served
customers. the queue becomes empty, so that the departure epoch of the
The service time distribution function is BðxÞ for both primary last customer from the group is the time gdþ1 . The number of
calls and repeated calls. customers in the orbit at this epoch, Rdþ1 , equals to
We assume that the input flow of primary calls (i.e. arrival n þ m1 þ    þ mi , where mj , 1 6 j 6 i, is the number of new pri-
epochs and sizes of batches), intervals between repeated trials, mary customers which arrived into the system during the
and service times are mutually independent. service period of the jth customer from the group. Random
R1
Let bðsÞ ¼ 0 esx dBðxÞ be the Laplace–Stieltjes transform of the variables m1 ; . . . ; mi are independent and have the same distri-
service time distribution function BðxÞ, Mb be the mean service bution with generating function kðzÞ. Thus,
time, r2b be the variance of the service time, q ¼ kMc M b the system
load due to primary customers (offered traffic), bðxÞ ¼ B0 ðxÞ=   i
E zRdþ1 jRd ¼ n; Ei ¼ zn ðkðzÞÞ : ð2Þ
ð1  BðxÞÞ be the instantaneous service intensity given that the
elapsed service time is equal to x, kðzÞ ¼ bðk  kcðzÞÞ. It is easy to
P
see that kðzÞ ¼ 1 n
n¼0 kn z , where kn is the probability that during
Eqs. (1) and (2) yield that
service time of a customer exactly n new primary customers arrive   nl n1 k
into the system, and q ¼ k ð1Þ.
0
E zRdþ1 jRd ¼ n ¼ z kðzÞ þ zn cðkðzÞÞ: ð3Þ
k þ nl k þ nl
At time t let Q ðtÞ be the number of customers in the queue
(including the customer in service if any) and RðtÞ be the number Since evolution of the system after time gd depends on the his-
of sources of repeated calls (which may be viewed as a sort of tory of the system before time gd only through the value
low priority queue). The process ðQ ðtÞ; RðtÞÞ which describes the Rd ¼ n, the sequence of random variables Rd forms a Markov
number of customers in the system is the simplest and simulta- chain, which is the embedded chain for our queueing system.
neously the most important process associated with the above It should be noted Rd is not the only embedded Markov chain for
queueing system. our queueing system. The sequence of pairs ðQ 0d ; R0d Þ where Q 0d is
If the service time distribution is not exponential then the pro- the number of customers in the queue and R0d is the number of
cess ðQ ðtÞ; RðtÞÞ is not Markov. In this case we introduce a supple- customers in the orbit at the epoch of dth departure forms an-
mentary variable: if Q ðtÞ P 1, we define nðtÞ as the elapsed service other embedded Markov chain.
time of the call being served.
3.1. Ergodicity of the embedded Markov chain

3. The embedded Markov chain

Theorem 1. The embedded Markov chain Rd is ergodic iff
Consider the sequence g1 ; g2 ; . . . of times when the process q < 1: ð4Þ
ðQ ðtÞ; RðtÞÞ moves into the set of states ð0; nÞ, n P 0. It means that
at the epoch gd service of a customer ends and there is no other Proof. To investigate ergodicity of the chain Rd it is very conve-
customers in the queue. Denote by Rd ¼ Rðgd Þ the number of cus- nient to use criteria based on the mean drift
tomers in the orbit at this epoch.
Assume that Rd ¼ n, i.e. at time gd þ 0 the server is idle, the xn  EðRdþ1  Rd jRd ¼ nÞ:
queue is empty and there are n customers is the orbit.
Using the description of evolution of the system after time gd we
At time gd the following competing independent events influ-
get:
ence further behaviour of the system:
nl X
þ1
kci
1. arrival of a customer from the orbit; the length of time inter- xn ¼ EðRdþ1  Rd jRd ¼ n; E0 Þ þ EðRdþ1  Rd jRd ¼ n; Ei Þ
k þ nl k þ nl
val till occurence of this event has exponential distribution i¼1

with parameter nl (denote this event as E0 ); nl X

þ1
kci
2. arrival of a new batch of i primary customers from the Pois- ¼ Eð1 þ mÞ þ Eðm1 þ    þ mi Þ
k þ nl k þ nl
son process with rate k; the length of time interval till occu- i¼1

rence of this event has exponential distribution with nl X

þ1
kci
parameter kci (denote this event as Ei ). ¼ ð1 þ qÞ þ iq
k þ nl i¼1
k þ nl

Thus:
nl
1. with probability kþn l a customer from the orbit arrives before
arrival of new customers. Immediately after this arrival the
server begins the service of the customer and when the ser-
vice ends the number of customers in the queue equals 0, so
that the departure epoch is the time gdþ1 . The number of cus-
tomers in the orbit at this epoch, Rdþ1 , equals to n  1 þ m,
where m is the number of new primary customers which
nl k
¼ ð1 þ qÞ þ M c q:
k þ nl k þ nl
As n ! þ1 there exists x ¼ lim xn ¼ 1 þ q. Applying Foster’s crite-
rion (see, for example, Pakes (1969)) we can guarantee that the
embedded Markov chain is ergodic if q < 1. Besides, since
Rdþ1  Rd P 1, for chain Rd the mean down drift is bounded below.
Thus, applying the criterion from Sennott et al. (1983) we can guar-
antee that inequality q < 1 is necessary for ergodicity. h
788 G.I. Falin / European Journal of Operational Research 201 (2010) 786–790

3.2. The stationary distribution of Rd 4. The continuous time process

Assume that condition q < 1 holds and the system is in steady

Theorem 3. If q < 1 and the queueing system under consideration is
state. Let pn ¼ PðRd ¼ nÞ be the stationary distribution of the chain
P Rd in steady state, the joint distribution of the number of customers in the
Rd and uðzÞ ¼ þ1 n¼0 z pn ¼ Ez
n
be its generating function.
queue (including the customer in service if any) and the number of
Theorem 2 customers in the orbit
 Z z 
1q kðzÞ  zcðkðzÞÞ k 1  cðkðuÞÞ pi;n ¼ PðQ ðtÞ ¼ i; RðtÞ ¼ nÞ
uðzÞ ¼ exp du :
1  q þ qM c kðzÞ  z l 1 kðuÞ  u
has generating function
Proof. Using (3) we get: 1 X
X 1
Pðy; zÞ  yi zn pi;n
i¼0 n¼0
X
þ1
    
uðzÞ ¼ EzRdþ1 ¼ PðRd ¼ nÞE zRdþ1 Rd ¼ n 1  cðyÞ 1  kðzÞ z  y 1  kðzÞ 1  cðkðzÞÞ
¼ ð1  qÞ 1 þ y þy
n¼0 kðzÞ  y 1  cðzÞ kðzÞ  y 1  cðzÞ kðzÞ  z
X
þ1 X
þ1  Z z 
pn pn k 1  cðkðuÞÞ
¼ lkðzÞ nzn1 þ kcðkðzÞÞ zn  exp du :
n¼0
k þ nl n¼0
k þ nl l 1 kðuÞ  u
¼ lkðzÞw0 ðzÞ þ kcðkðzÞÞwðzÞ;
Proof. In a general way we obtain the equations of statistical
where equilibrium for stationary probabilities pin ðxÞdx ¼ PðQ ðtÞ ¼ i;
x < nðtÞ < x þ dx; RðtÞ ¼ nÞ, i P 1, and p0n ¼ PðQ ðtÞ ¼ 0; RðtÞ ¼ nÞ:
X
þ1
pn zRd Z
wðzÞ ¼ zn ¼E : 1

n¼0
k þ nl k þ Rd l ðk þ nlÞp0n ¼ p1n ðxÞbðxÞdx;
0
X
n
Since p0in ðxÞ ¼ ðk þ bðxÞÞpin ðxÞ þ k ck pi;nk ðxÞ; if i P 1;
k¼1
uðzÞ ¼ kwðzÞ þ lzw0ðzÞ; Z 1
pin ð0Þ ¼ piþ1;n ðxÞbðxÞdx þ kci p0;n þ ðn þ 1Þlp0;nþ1  di;1 ; if i P 1:
0
we get the following equation for the generating function wðzÞ:
l½kðzÞ  z  w0 ðzÞ ¼ k½1  cðkðzÞÞ  wðzÞ: ð5Þ where dm;n is Kronecker’s delta, so that the multiplier di;1 indicates
that the corresponding term is present only in the case i ¼ 1.
Consider the coefficient f ðzÞ ¼ kðzÞ  z. Note that: For generating functions

1. f ð1Þ ¼ kð1Þ  1 ¼ 1  1 ¼ 0; X
þ1 X
þ1

0 p0 ðzÞ ¼ zn p0n ; pi ðz; xÞ ¼ zn pin ðxÞ

2. f 0 ðzÞ ¼ k ð1Þ  1 ¼ q  1 < 0; n¼0 n¼0
00
3. k ðzÞ P 0 since kðzÞ is a generating function.
these equations become:
Therefore the function f ðzÞ is decreasing on the interval ½0; 1, Z þ1
dp0 ðzÞ
z ¼ 1 is the only zero there and for z 2 ½0; 1Þ the function is positive, kp0 ðzÞ þ lz ¼ p1 ðz; xÞbðxÞdx; ð6Þ
dz 0
i.e. (as q < 1) for z 2 ½0; 1Þ we have: opi ðz; xÞ
¼ ðk  kcðzÞ þ bðxÞÞpi ðz; xÞ; if i P 1; ð7Þ
z < kðzÞ 6 1: ox
Z þ1
dp ðzÞ
Besides, pi ðz; 0Þ ¼ piþ1 ðz; xÞbðxÞdx þ kci p0 ðzÞ þ l 0  di;1 ; if i P 1:
0 dz
1  cðkðzÞÞ q ð8Þ
lim ¼ Mc < 1;
z!10 kðzÞ  z 1q
From (7) we find that pi ðz; xÞ depends upon x as follows:
i.e. the function 1cðkðzÞÞ
kðzÞz
can be defined at the point z ¼ 1 as Mc 1qq.
This means that for z 2 ½0; 1 we can rewrite the Eq. (5) as pi ðz; xÞ ¼ pi ðz; 0Þ½1  BðxÞeðkkcðzÞÞx ; ð9Þ

k 1  cðkðzÞÞ so that
w0 ðzÞ ¼ wðzÞ;
l kðzÞ  z þ1 X
X þ1 X
þ1

which implies that pðy; z; xÞ  yi zn pin ðxÞ ¼ yi pi ðz; xÞ

  i¼1 n¼0 i¼1
Z z
k 1  cðkðuÞÞ ¼ pðy; z; 0Þ½1  BðxÞeðkkcðzÞÞx ; ð10Þ
wðzÞ ¼ wð1Þ exp du :
l 1 kðuÞ  u
þ1 X
X þ1 Z þ1
From this,
pðy; zÞ  yi zn pin ¼ pðy; z; xÞdx
i¼1 n¼0 0
kðzÞ  zcðkðzÞÞ
uðzÞ ¼ kwðzÞ þ lzw0 ðzÞ ¼ k wðzÞ: 1  kðzÞ
kðzÞ  z ¼ pðy; z; 0Þ : ð11Þ
kð1  cðzÞÞ
Since uð1Þ ¼ 1, we have:
With the help of (9), (6) and (8) can be rewritten as
1 1q
wð1Þ ¼ ; dp0 ðzÞ
k 1  q þ qM c kp0 ðzÞ þ lz ¼ kðzÞp1 ðz; 0Þ ð12Þ
dz
which completes the proof. h
and
 G.I. Falin / European Journal of Operational Research 201 (2010) 786–790 789

Pþ1
dp0 ðzÞ Since y 1cðyÞ is the generating function of the tails ci ¼ k¼i ck :
pi ðz; 0Þ ¼ piþ1 ðz; 0ÞkðzÞ þ kci p0 ðzÞ þ l  di;1 ; if i P 1 ð13Þ 1y
dz X
þ1
1  cðyÞ
correspondingly. y ¼ yi ci ;
1y i¼1
For generating function pðy; z; xÞ Eq. (13) becomes:
 
kðzÞ dp ðzÞ we may find the distribution of the queue length:
1 pðy; z; 0Þ ¼ p1 ðz; 0ÞkðzÞ þ kcðyÞp0 ðzÞ þ ly 0 :
y dz
ð14Þ PðQ ðtÞ ¼ 0Þ ¼ 1  q;
Eliminating p1 ðz; 0Þ from (12) and (14) we get: qð1  qÞ
PðQ ðtÞ ¼ 1Þ ¼ q2 þ ; ð18Þ
  Mc
kðzÞ dp ðzÞ qð1  qÞ 
1 pðy; z; 0Þ ¼ kð1  cðyÞÞp0 ðzÞ þ lðy  zÞ 0 : ð15Þ PðQ ðtÞ ¼ iÞ ¼ ci ; if i P 2:
y dz Mc
Replacing y ¼ kðzÞ yield
It is interesting to note that this distribution does not depend on the
dp0 ðzÞ
l½kðzÞ  z ¼ k½1  cðkðzÞÞp0 ðzÞ: ð16Þ parameter l which describes the behaviour of the blocked
dz
customers.
This equation is identical to Eq. (5) and thus On the other hand if we assume that l ¼ 0, i.e. blocked custom-
 Z z  ers are lost forever (and do not influence the queue), then it is easy
k 1  cðkðuÞÞ to see that the corresponding process ðQ 0 ðtÞ; n0 ðtÞÞ is Markovian.
p0 ðzÞ ¼ p0 ð1Þ exp du :
l 1 kðuÞ  u Clearly this process is ergodic for any arrival rate and it can be
shown that in the case l ¼ 0 the stationary distribution of the
Now from (16) and (15)
queue length is given by
 
1  cðyÞ z  y 1  cðkðzÞÞ
pðy; z; 0Þ ¼ ky þ p0 ðzÞ; 1 q
kðzÞ  y kðzÞ  y kðzÞ  z PðQ 0 ðtÞ ¼ 0Þ ¼ ; PðQ 0 ðtÞ ¼ iÞ ¼ ci ; if i P 1:
1þq ð1 þ qÞMc
and so from (11) ð19Þ
 
1  kðzÞ 1  cðyÞ z  y 1  cðkðzÞÞ
pðy; zÞ ¼ y þ p0 ðzÞ; Thus stationary performance characteristics of the queue are not
1  cðzÞ kðzÞ  y kðzÞ  y kðzÞ  z
continuous at the point l ¼ 0.
However, there is an interesting relation between distributions
(18) and (19). With this goal consider the functioning of the origi-
Pðy; zÞ
  nal system (with l > 0) from the point of view of an observer who
1  cðyÞ 1  kðzÞ z  y 1  kðzÞ 1  cðkðzÞÞ has only information about the state of the queue (including the
¼ 1þy þy p0 ðzÞ:
kðzÞ  y 1  cðzÞ kðzÞ  y 1  cðzÞ kðzÞ  z server). This observer sees that from time to time groups of cus-
tomers arrive into the system. If the server is free at the time of ar-
Now the unknown constant p0 ð1Þ can be found from the normaliz-
rival of a group, one customer from the group starts to be served
ing condition Pð1; 1Þ ¼ 1: p0 ð1Þ ¼ 1  q, which completes the
immediately and the rest join the queue. If the server is occupied
proof. h
at the time of arrival then (from the point of view of our observer)
With the help of the generating function Pðy; zÞ we can find var- the group disappears (although actually it joins the orbit).
ious performance characteristics of the system. For example, the Thus, from the point of view of an observer, which has only
distribution of the number of customers in the orbit has generating information about the state of the queue, the original retrial queue
function functions as a corresponding loss system. However, it is important
  to realize that the input flow to this loss system is composed of all
1  z 1  cðkðzÞÞ
EzRðtÞ ¼ Pð1; zÞ ¼ ð1  qÞ 1 þ calls (both primary and repeated), i.e. is a composite of the initial
kðzÞ  z 1  cðzÞ
 Z z  flow of primary calls, which reflects real needs in service, and the
k 1  cðkðuÞÞ flow of repeated calls, which is connected with delays in service.
 exp du :
l 1 kðuÞ  u Thus, this joint flow has a more complex structure than the flow
In particular, the mean number of customers in the orbit is of primary calls (as a matter of fact, we cannot even describe this
structure). We can, however, make some simplified assumptions
k qM c q2 qð2  qÞðMc  1Þ q2 about the structure of the joint flow, which allow us to transform
ERðtÞ ¼ þ þ þ
l 1  q 2ð1  qÞ 2ð1  qÞ 2ð1  qÞ the loss model into a tractable model. Assume (although formally
r2b qð2  qÞ r2c it is not correct) that the flow of repeated calls is Poisson with
 þ : ð17Þ the rate (see (17))
M2b 2ð1  qÞ M c

For the number of customers in the queue (including the customer qM c

r ¼ lim lERðtÞ ¼ k
in service if any) we have: l!0 1q

and does not depend on the (Poisson) flow of groups of primary cus-
1  cðyÞ q
EyQ ðtÞ ¼ Pðy; 1Þ ¼ ð1  qÞ þ yq2 þ y ð1  qÞ: tomers. Then the joint flow is Poisson with rate
1  y Mc
1  q þ qM c
In particular, the mean queue length is k ¼ k þ r ¼ k :
1q
qð1  qÞðMc  1Þ r2c
EQðtÞ ¼ q þ þ qð1  qÞ : At every arrival epoch with probability kk a group of primary
2 2M c
customers arrives and with probability kr single customer from
790 G.I. Falin / European Journal of Operational Research 201 (2010) 786–790

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