Buffer allocation for a class of nonlinear stochastic knapsack problems

In this paper, the authors examine a class of nonlinear, stochastic knapsack problems which occur in manufacturing, facility or other network design applications. Series, merge-and-split topologies of series-parallel M/M/1/K and M/M/C/K queueing networks with an overall buffer constraint bound are examined. Bounds on the objective function are proposed and a sensitivity analysis is utilized to quantify the effects of buffer variations on network performance measures.