Analysis of individual packet loss in a finite buffer queue with heterogeneous Markov modulated arrival processes: a study of traffic burstiness and priority packet discarding

The authors consider a queuing system with a finite buffer and multiple heterogeneous arrival streams. They focus on Markov modulated arrival processes with different burstings and investigate the loss of individual arrival streams when the parameters of the heterogeneous arrival streams are varied. The analysis includes both continuous-time and discrete-time treatments of multiplexed heterogeneous Markov modulated arrivals. Loss probabilities are derived for a priority packet discarding scheme. A new characterization of an arrival stream is introduced, referred to as a self-loss, and it is used to qualitatively predict the effects of multiplexing bursty streams with nonbursty streams. The effectiveness of priority packet discarding is also investigated through numerical examples