Insensitivity in processor-sharing networks

We consider an open network of processor-sharing nodes with state-dependent service capacities, i.e., the speed of each node may depend on the number of customers at any node. We demonstrate that the stationary distribution of the network state is insensitive to the distribution of service times if and only if the service capacities are balanced, i.e., the considered network is a Whittle network. The stationary distribution then has a closed-form expression and the expected sojourn time of a customer at any node is proportional to its required quantity of service. These results are extended to the cases of closed networks and state-dependent arrival rates and routing. Two simple examples illustrate the practical interest of these results in the context of communication networks. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.