Optimal buffer allocation in a two-stage queueing system

Abstract

We study the buffer allocation problem in a two-stage cyclic queueing system. First, we show that transposing the number of buffers assigned to each queue does not affect the throughput. Second, we prove that the optimal buffer allocation scheme, in the sense of maximizing the system's throughput, is the one for which the absolute difference between the number of buffers, assigned to each queue, is minimized, i.e., it becomes either 0 or 1. This optimal allocation is insensitive to the general-type service-time distributions. These two distributions may be different and service times may even be correlated.