A broader view of Brownian networks (Q1425488)

This article begins with an introduction to Brownian networks and stochastic system models and their application and importance to optimal control problems (Section 1). In the next section a generalized description is presented where the control for the Brownian network is not required to be monotone or of bounded variation, followed by an example of a static planning problem (Sections 2 and 3). In the sections that follow, a general stochastic processing network is proposed as a formal approximation of the heavy traffic parameter regime, and its properties are examined in detail. The article concludes with a discussion of the advantages of the proposed novel extension of Brownian networks.