Stochastic Network Formulation for Performance Assessment and Life-Cycle Modeling in Complex System Design

摘要

A network model incorporating various stochastic features is considered. The model seeks to represent a complex sequential process wherein an object or system moves through a succession of states (nodes) and operating modes (classes) in the course of carrying out or fulfilling its function, and with the transitions among states and operating modes occurring in a possibly random manner, and requiring (consuming) some resource in randomly varying amounts. The authors discuss the routing behavior and resource requirements of typical objects moving through the network, evolution of the network over time when external input follows a possibly nonhomogenous Poisson pattern, the distance between the time-dependent distribution of state and the limiting distribution when the Poisson input is homogeneous, and some potential applications of the formulation and results. (Author)