ABSTRACT
We have already been introduced to several modeling tools, such as linear programming, network models, and integer programming techniques, which allow us to optimize systems. Other techniques, such as Markov analysis, allow us to observe and analyze the probable behavior of systems over time; and the information gained from these observations may be used indirectly to modify or improve system performance. In this chapter, we will study further mechanisms by which we may observe and characterize the performance of systems. In particular, we will concentrate on the wide variety of systems whose elements include waiting lines (queues), and will study how such waiting lines interact with other activities or entities in the system toward achieving a certain system throughput.
