Multi-server FIFO queue simulator

Simulation is the modelling of a process or system so that the model imitates the responses of the real system over a sequence of events that occur over time. (Schriber, 1974)

Use this simulator to examine possible behaviour of a FIFO queue with multiple servers.

The preconfigured example models a taxi stand (each taxi is a server). Passengers arrive according to a Poisson distribution, and service time—the trip to drop off a passenger and return—is approximated by a normal distribution.

The simulator lets you observe queues at different times of day and compare the earnings of each taxi and the total. Change the parameters below and click Simulate; the results will appear after the page loads.

Final notes ​

The FIFO simulator can be applied to many situations. Poisson arrival and normal service distributions appear in settings from content-server page requests to supermarket checkout lines.

Simulation is useful for studying what might happen if an event occurred and for developing theories and hypotheses from those observations.

This project was developed for the Modelling and Simulation course in the Applied Computing graduate program at Unisinos, in collaboration with Mauricio Harff and Eduardo Martins.