The Equivalent Group Method for Estimating the Capacity of Partial-Access Service Systems Which Carry Overflow Traffic
S. R. Neal · Bell System Technical Journal · 1972
We present a technique, called the Equivalent Group method, for estimating the capacities of partial-access service systems which carry overflow traffic. The basic idea is to find a full-access group which has the same capacity as the partial-access system when the arrival process is Poisson. We consider these groups to be “equivalent” and use the capacity of the full-access group when it is offered overflow traffic to estimate the capacity of the partial-access group if it is offered the same overflow traffic. The Equivalent Group method is used to estimate the capacity of Step-by-Step graded multiples which carry overflow traffic. The resulting procedures can account for day-to-day variations in the offered load, and the computations can be carried out by appropriate use of existing engineering tables.