The distribution of age-of-information performance measures for message processing systems

George Kesidis (), Takis Konstantopoulos () and Michael A. Zazanis ()
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George Kesidis: The Pennsylvania State University
Takis Konstantopoulos: The University of Liverpool
Michael A. Zazanis: Athens University of Economics and Business

Queueing Systems: Theory and Applications, 2020, vol. 95, issue 3, No 2, 203-250

Abstract: Abstract The idea behind the recently introduced “age-of-information” performance measure of a network message processing system is that it indicates our knowledge regarding the “freshness” of the most recent piece of information that can be used as a criterion for real-time control. In this foundational paper, we examine two such measures, one that has been extensively studied in the recent literature and a new one that could be more relevant from the point of view of the processor. Considering these measures as stochastic processes in a stationary environment (defined by the arrival processes, message processing times and admission controls in bufferless systems), we characterize their distributions using the Palm inversion formula. Under renewal assumptions, we derive explicit solutions for their Laplace transforms and show some interesting decomposition properties. Previous work has mostly focused on computation of expectations in very particular cases. We argue that using bufferless or very small buffer systems is best and support this by simulation. We also pose some open problems including assessment of enqueueing policies that may be better in cases where one wishes to minimize more general functionals of the age-of-information measures.

Keywords: Age of information; Message processing systems; Palm probability; Renewal process; Poisson process; Performance evaluation; Stochastic decomposition; Primary 60G55; 60K05; Secondary 60G50; 60K30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11134-020-09655-x

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