A Useful Tool in the Theory of Priority Queueing

A double input channel priority network, consisting of a low-priority queue with general interarrival distribution and Markovian service time and a high priority completely Markovian queue, is considered. A simple and handy estimate of the mean queue length for the two flows is presented together with its relative effectiveness. The analysis results show that the channel utilization can be improved by introducing a deterministic traffic flow without significant degradation of the high-priority queue performance. These results can be used in designing a communication network, where many packetized traffic flows with different input statistics and delay threshold requirements (packetized voice, video, and data) have to be served by the same switching and transmission facilities.