Abstract
In the recent strategic queueing literature, there is a large number of papers that study the join-or-balk dilemma in queueing systems with server’s on-off periods, modeling vacations and failures. These studies consider the customers as discrete units and adopt the assumption that reneging is not permitted. In the present paper, we depart from this framework and study the effect of the reneging option in such systems. We consider the fluid on-off model of the basic queue with vacations/failures and study reneging vs. no-reneging when customers are strategic. We derive the equilibrium customer strategies and the corresponding performance measures of the system, and we use them to study the equilibrium throughput and social welfare. The main finding is that the existence of the reneging option is very beneficial for overloaded systems, i.e., for such systems balking alone is not sufficient to achieve good outcomes. On the contrary, for underloaded systems the reneging option is not particularly valuable.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anick, D., Mitra, D., & Sondhi, M. M. (1982). Stochastic theory of a data-handling system with multiple sources. The Bell System Technical Journal, 61, 1871–1894.
Braun, M. (1983). Differential Equations and their Applications (3rd ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Boxma, O., Kaspi, H., Kella, O., & Perry, D. (2005). On/off storage systems with state-dependent input, output, and switching rates. Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences, 19(1), 1–14.
Burnetas, A., & Economou, A. (2007). Equilibrium customer strategies in a single server Markovian queue with setup times. Queueing Systems, 56, 213–228.
Chen, P., Zhou, W., & Zhou, Y. (2015). Equilibrium customer strategies in the queue with threshold policy and setup times (p. 361901). Article ID: Mathematical Problems in Engineering.
Do, C. T., Hong, C. S., Hong, J. (2012a). Pricing control for hybrid overlay/underlay spectrum access in cognitive radio networks. APNOMS (2012).
Do, C. T., Tran, N. H., Nguyen, M. V., Hong, C. S., & Lee, S. (2012). Social optimization strategy in unobserved queueing systems in cognitive radio networks. IEEE Communications letters, 16, 1944–1947.
Economou, A. (2021). The impact of information structure on strategic behavior in queueing systems. Mathematics and StatisticsIn V. Anisimov & N. Limnios (Eds.), Queueing theory 2, advanced trends. London: Sciences, ISTE & Wiley.
Economou, A., & Kanta, S. (2008). Equilibrium balking strategies in the observable single-server queue with breakdowns and repairs. Operations Research Letters, 36, 696–699.
Economou, A., Gómez-Corral, A., & Kanta, S. (2011). Optimal balking strategies in single-server queues with general service and vacation times. Performance Evaluation, 68, 967–982.
Economou, A., Logothetis, D., & Manou, A. (2022). The value of reneging for strategic customers in queueing systems with server vacations/failures. European Journal of Operational Research, 299, 960–976.
Economou, A., & Manou, A. (2013). Equilibrium balking strategies for a clearing queueing system in alternating environment. Annals of Operations Research, 208, 489–514.
Economou, A., & Manou, A. (2016). Strategic behavior in an observable fluid queue with alternating service process. European Journal of Operational Research, 254, 148–160.
Edelson, N. M., & Hildebrand, K. (1975). Congestion tolls for Poisson queueing processes. Econometrica, 43, 81–92.
Gautam, N. (2012). Analysis of queues: methods and applications. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Guo, P., & Hassin, R. (2011). Strategic behavior and social optimization in Markovian vacation queues. Operations Research, 59, 986–997.
Guo, P., & Hassin, R. (2012). Strategic behavior and social optimization in Markovian vacation queues: the case of heterogeneous customers. European Journal of Operational Research, 222, 278–286.
Guo, P., & Li, Q. (2013). Strategic behavior and social optimization in partially-observable Markovian vacation queues. Operations Research Letters, 41, 277–284.
Guo, P., & Zhang, Z. G. (2013). Strategic queueing behavior and its impact on system performance in service systems with the congestionbased staffing policy. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 15, 118–131.
Hassin, R. (2016). Rational queueing. Boca Raton: CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group.
Hassin, R., & Haviv, M. (2003). To queue or not to queue: equilibrium behavior in queueing systems. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Haviv, M. (2013). When to arrive at a queue with tardiness costs? Performance Evaluation, 70(6), 387–399.
Huang, P., Wang, J., & Fu, L. (2012). Equilibrium balking strategies in the single-server queues with Erlangian service and setup times. LISS.
Jagannathan, K., Menache, I., Modiano, E., & Zussman, G. (2012). Non-cooperative spectrum access: the dedicated vs. free spectrum choice. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, 30, 2251–2261.
Jain, R., Juneja, S., & Shimkin, N. (2011). The concert queueing game: to wait or to be late? Discrete Event Dynamic Systems, 21, 103–138.
Juneja, S., & Shimkin, N. (2013). The concert queueing game: strategic arrivals with waiting and tardiness costs. Queueing Systems, 74(4), 369–402.
Kosten, L. (1974). Stochastic theory of multi-entry buffer, part 1. Delft Progress Report, Series F, 1, 10–18.
Kosten, L. (1974). Stochastic theory of multi-entry buffer, part 2. Delft Progress Report, Series F, 1, 44–55.
Kosten, L., & Vrieze, O. J. (1975). Stochastic theory of multi-entry buffer, part 3. Delft Progress Report, Series F, 1, 103–115.
Kulkarni, V. G. (1997). Fluid models for single buffer systems. In J. H. Dshalalow (Ed.), Frontiers in queueing: models and applications in science and engineering (pp. 321–338). CRC Press.
Li, H., & Han, Z. (2011). Socially optimal queuing control in cognitive radio networks subject to service interruptions: to queue or not to queue? IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 10, 1656–1666.
Li, X., Wang, J., & Zhang, F. (2014). New results on equilibrium balking strategies in the single-server queue with breakdowns and repairs. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 241, 380–388.
Liu, J., Xu, X., Wang, S., & Yue, D. (2021). Equilibrium analysis of the fluid model with two types of parallel customers and breakdowns. Communications in Statistics-Theory and Methods, 50(24), 5792–5805.
Liu, Z., Ma, Y., & Zhang, Z. G. (2015). Equilibrium mixed strategies in a discrete-time Markovian queue under multiple and single vacation policies. Quality Technology & Quantitative Management, 12, 367–380.
Ma, Y., Liu, W., & Li, J. (2013). Equilibrium balking behavior in the Geo/Geo/1 queueing system with multiple vacations. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 37, 3861–3878.
Maglaras, C. (2006). Revenue management for a multiclass single-server queue via a fluid model analysis. Operations Research, 54(5), 914–932.
Naor, P. (1969). The regulation of queue size by levying tolls. Econometrica, 37, 15–24.
Schwartz, M. (1996). Broadband integrated networks. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Stidham, S., Jr. (2009). Optimal design of queueing systems. Boca Raton: CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group.
Stidham, S., Rajagopal, S., & Kulkarni, V. G. (1995). Optimal flow control of a stochastic fluid-flow system. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, 13(7), 1219–1228.
Sun, W., Guo, P., & Tian, N. (2010). Equilibrium threshold strategies in observable queueing systems with setup/closedown times. Central European Journal of Operations Research, 18, 241–268.
Sun, W., & Li, S. (2014). Equilibrium and optimal behavior of customers in Markovian queues with multiple working vacations. TOP, 22, 694–715.
Sun, W., Li, S., & Cheng-Guo, E. (2016). Equilibrium and optimal balking strategies of customers in Markovian queues with multiple vacations and N-policy. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 40, 284–301.
Tian, R., Yue, D., & Yue, W. (2015). Optimal balking strategies in an M/G/1 queueing system with a removal server under N-policy. Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization, 11, 715–731.
Wang, S., & Xu, X. (2021). Equilibrium strategies of the fluid queue with working vacation. Operational Research, 21(2), 1211–1228.
Wang, J., & Zhang, F. (2011). Equilibrium analysis of the observable queues with balking and delayed repairs. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 218, 2716–2729.
Yang, B., Hou, Z., Wu, J. Liu, Z. (2014a). Analysis the equilibrium strategies in the Geo/Geo/1 queue with multiple working vacations.Preprint.
Yang, T., Wang, J., & Zhang, F. (2014). Equilibrium balking strategies in the Geo/Geo/1 queues with server breakdowns and repairs. Quality Technology & Quantitative Management, 11, 231–243.
Yechiali, U. (1971). On optimal balking rules and toll charges in the GI/M/1 queuing process. Operations Research, 19(2), 349–370.
Yechiali, U. (1972). Customers’ optimal joining rules for the GI/M/s queue. Management Science, 18(7), 434–443.
Yechiali, U. (1973). A queuing-type birth-and-death process defined on a continuous-time Markov chain. Operations Research, 21(2), 604–609.
Yechiali, U., & Naor, P. (1971). Queuing problems with heterogeneous arrivals and service. Operations Research, 19(3), 722–734.
Zhang, F., Wang, J., & Liu, B. (2013). Equilibrium balking strategies in Markovian queues with working vacations. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 37, 8264–8282.
Acknowledgements
D. Logothetis was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) under the HFRI PhD Fellowship grant (Fellowship Number: 1158).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
D. Logothetis was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Logothetis, D., Manou, A. & Economou, A. The impact of reneging on a fluid on-off queue with strategic customers. Ann Oper Res 331, 629–647 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-022-04807-z
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-022-04807-z