4 ms·
> a poisson distribution of incoming calls with a rate r1 This is what always confuses me about queueing theory. The analysis is valid assuming a particular di
by zvrba 8y ago
> a poisson distribution of incoming calls with a rate r1
This is what always confuses me about queueing theory. The analysis is valid assuming a particular distribution, but the justification given for using that distribution was very weak, if at all given.
So how is the choice of a distribution justified?
- spapas82 8y agoI think that a poisson distribution is the easiest for the problem to be solved. It may not be the most accurate incoming distribution for all cases but it should be good enough for most cases.
- beagle3 8y agoPoisson is the limit distribution you converge to when n people each flip a coin with probability p to do something, when you drive n to infinity but keep np constant. It is well justified and models the world reasonably well. The parameter changes - e.g. when there’s a service outage, the proportion of people likely to call and report it, does change; but the number of calls per unit time within e.g. the first hour, indeed is Poisson with a higher-than-usual parameter.