Flow time distributions in a \(K\) class \(M/G/1\) priority feedback queue (Q1175219)

Each customer arrives at a single-server queueing system according to a Poisson process and requires at least one, and possibly up to \(K\) service phases. A customer is said to be in class \(k\) if it is waiting for or receiving its \(k\)-th phase of service. Service times in the \(k\)-th phase are i.i.d. random variables with general distribution indexed by \(k\). A customer completing a class \(k\) service, \(k<K\), leaves the system with probability \(p_ k\) or immediately becomes a class \(k+1\) customer with probability \(1-p_ k\); \(p_ K=1\). The queueing discipline is non- preemptive, first-come first-served with a strict fixed priority ordering of the customer classes. The Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the distribution of the sojourn time in classes \(1,\dots,k\) is derived.