Fluid approximation for generalized Jackson network with vacations (Q1758113)

The paper under review studies generalized Jackson networks with vacations. Recall that a Jackson network in which interarrival and service times are formed by sequences of independently and identically distributed random variables is called generalized Jackson network (GJN). The vacation mechanism that is considered in the paper is as follows. Each station of the system leaves for a vacation as soon as the service of all customers in that station is completed. Upon completion of the vacation, the new customers arrived at the station during the vacation period start their service. Otherwise, if there are no new arrivals, then the server leaves for another vacation. The paper proves that the fluid model for a GJN with vacations is the same as the fluid model for a GJN without vacations. The paper also shows that the exponential rate of convergence for fluid approximation only holds when the number of customers in the system \(N\) is large, which distinguishes GJN with vacation from the GJN without vacations.