Kendall's notation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 3

Kendall's notation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In queueing theory, Kendall's notation (or sometimes Kendall notation) is the standard system used to
describe and classify the queueing model that a queueing system corresponds to. First suggested by D.
G. Kendall in 1953 as a three-factor A/B/C notation system for characterising queues, it has since been
extended to include up to six different factors.

The notation now appears in most standard reference work about queueing theory. e.g. [1]

Contents

1 Notation

1.1 A: The arrival process

1.2 B: The service time distribution

1.3 C: The number of servers

1.4 K: The number of places in the system

1.5 N: The calling population

1.6 D: The queue's discipline

2 References

3 External links

Notation
A queue is described in shorthand notation by A/B/C/K/N/D or the more concise A/B/C. In this concise
version, it is assumed K = ∞, N = ∞ and D = FIFO.

A: The arrival process

A code describing the arrival process. The codes used are:

Symbol Name Description

M Markovian Poisson process (or random) arrival process.
Poisson process with a random variable X for the number of arrivals
MX batch Markov
at one time.
Markovian arrival
MAP Generalisation of the Poisson process.
process
Batch Markovian arrival
BMAP Generalisation of the MAP with multiple arrivals
process
Markov modulated
MMPP Poisson process where arrivals are in "clusters".
poisson process
D Degenerate distribution A deterministic or fixed inter-arrival time.
Ek Erlang distribution An Erlang distribution with k as the shape parameter.

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Although G usually refers to independent arrivals, some authors

G General distribution
prefer to use GI to be explicit.
Some of the above distributions are special cases of the phase-type,
PH Phase-type distribution
often used in place of a general distribution.

B: The service time distribution

This gives the distribution of time of the service of a customer. Some common notations are:

Symbol Name Description

M Markovian Exponential service time.
Degenerate
D A deterministic or fixed service time.
distribution
Ek Erlang distribution An Erlang distribution with k as the shape parameter.
General Although G usually refers to independent arrivals, some authors prefer to
G
distribution use GI to be explicit.
Phase-type Some of the above distributions are special cases of the phase-type, often
PH
distribution used in place of a general distribution.

C: The number of servers

The number of service channels (or servers).

K: The number of places in the system

The capacity of the system, or the maximum number of customers allowed in the system including those
in service. When the number is at this maximum, further arrivals are turned away. If this number is
omitted, the capacity is assumed to be unlimited, or infinite.

Note: This is sometimes denoted C+k where k is the buffer size, the number of places in the queue
above the number of servers C.

N: The calling population

The size of calling source. The size of the population from which the customers come. A small
population will significantly affect the effective arrival rate, because, as more jobs queue up, there are
fewer left available to arrive into the system. If this number is omitted, the population is assumed to be
unlimited, or infinite.

D: The queue's discipline

The Service Discipline or Priority order that jobs in the queue, or waiting line, are served:

Symbol Name Description

First In First Out/First Come

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FIFO/FCFS First Served The customers are served in the order they arrived in.
Last in First Out/Last Come The customers are served in the reverse order to the order
LIFO/LCFS
First Served they arrived in.
The customers are served in a random order with no
SIRO Service In Random Order
regard to arrival order.
Priority service, including preemptive and non-
PNPN Priority service
preemptive. (see Priority queue)
PS Processor Sharing

Note: An alternative notation practice is to record the queue discipline before the population and
system capacity, with or without enclosing parenthesis. This does not normally cause confusion
because the notation is different.

References
1. ^ Tijms, H.C, Algorithmic Analysis of Queues, Chapter 9 in A First Course in Stochastic Models, Wiley,
Chichester, 2003.

External links

http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~nd/surprise_97/journal/vol4/wll1/main.htm

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1055043
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendall%27s_notation"
Categories: Mathematical notation | Queueing theory

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