System for calculating expected length of time in transient queue by a formula in the event items cannot be allocated to the buffer

摘要

Disclosed is a data processing system and a method of managing a queue 130 of items for processing in which the expected time an item will spend on the queue 130 is calculated 209 when an item is received to be placed on a queue 130. If this exceeds an upper limit, then the item is rejected 213 and the queue 130 is purged 215 of all items. An indication is provided to the sources of the items that were purged that this has occurred. In this way, it is possible to detect the difference between a queue 130 which is longer, but dynamic, and one which is shorter, but static. The method is applied to management of requests for a communications link between local and remote systems.