Generalized processor sharing queues with heterogeneous traffic classes

Abstract

We consider a queue fed by a mixture of light-tailed and heavy-tailed traffic. The two traffic flows are served in accordance with the generalized processor sharing (GPS) discipline. GPS-based scheduling algorithms, such as weighted fair queueing (WFQ), have emerged as an important mechanism for achieving service differentiation in integrated networks. We derive the asymptotic workload behaviour of the light-tailed traffic flow under the assumption that its GPS weight is larger than its traffic intensity. The GPS mechanism ensures that the workload is bounded above by that in an isolated system with the light-tailed flow served in isolation at a constant rate equal to its GPS weight. We show that the workload distribution is, in fact, asymptotically equivalent to that in the isolated system, multiplied by a certain prefactor, which accounts for the interaction with the heavy-tailed flow. Specifically, the prefactor represents the probability that the heavy-tailed flow is backlogged long enough for the light-tailed flow to reach overflow. The results provide crucial qualitative insight in the typical overflow scenario.