Analysis of a Finite Storage System with Batch Input Arising out of Message Packetization

A Markovian queueing model with finite waiting space is developed for the communications controller which buffers the flow of packets from a host computer to its associated packet switch. The segmentation of messages into packets by the host is modeled by a batch input to the communications controller. The probabilities of state are determined by numerical recursion and subsequently used in expressions developed for the blocking probabilities and waiting-time distribution as a function of two proposed batch acceptance strategies. Representative numerical results as would be useful in the dimensioning and performance analysis of the communications controller are presented. A more general non-Markovian model is investigated by means of simulation, showing that the initial Markovian model is very accurate in determining the system performance.