Level Crossings in Point Processes Applied to Queues: Single-Server Case

This paper introduces a new methodology for obtaining the stationary waiting time distribution in single-server queues with Poisson arrivals. The basis of the method is the observation that the stationary density of the virtual waiting time can be interpreted as the long-run average rate of downcrossings of a level in a stochastic point process. Equating the total long-run average rates of downcrossings and upcrossings of a level then yields an integral equation for the waiting time density function, which is usually both a linear Volterra and a renewal-type integral equation. A technique for deriving and solving such equations is illustrated by means of detailed examples.