Approximating queue lengths inM(t)/G/1 queue using the maximum entropy principle

Using the discrete time approach a model is developed for obtaining the expected queue length of theM(t)/G/1 queue. This type of queue occurs in different forms in transportation and traffic systems and in communications and manufacturing systems. In order to cut down the very high computational efforts required to evaluate the performance measures in such queues by exact methods, the Maximum Entropy Principle is used to approximate the expected queue length which is one of the most commonly used performance measures. A procedure is then developed for reducing the error encountered when this approximation is adopted. The results from this paper will encourage the practitioners to use the appropriate time-varying queueing models when the need arises instead of resorting to very poor approximations.