General Stochastic Processes in Traffic Systems with One Server

Congestion in systems with one server, exemplified by simple queues, individual telephone trunks and particle counters, is considered without any restrictions on the statistical character of the incoming load. Elementary methods establish formulas and equations describing probabilities of delay and loss. These methods deemphasize special statistical models and yield a general theory. In spite of this generality, it is attempted to give intuitive proofs and extensive explanations of the physical significance of formidas, as well as rigorous derivations. The theory is applied to specific models to obtain illustrative new residts.