Analytic performance models for bounded queueing systems

Pipelined computing applications often have their performance modeled using queueing techniques. While networks with infinite capacity queues have well understood properties, networks with finite capacity queues and blocking between servers have resisted closed-form solutions and are typically analyzed with approximate solutions. It is this latter case that more closely represents the circumstances present for pipelined computation. In this paper, we extend an existing approximate solution technique and, more importantly, provide guidance as to when the approximate solutions work well and when they fail.