Colloquium

      Stochastic models of processing networks arise in a wide variety of applications in science and engineering, e.g., in high-tech manufacturing, transportation, telecommunications, computer systems, customer service systems, and biochemical reaction networks. These "stochastic processing networks" typically have entities, such as jobs, vehicles, packets, customers or molecules, that move along paths or routes, receive processing from various resources, and that are subject to the effects of stochastic variability through such variables as arrival times, processing times and routing protocols. Networks arising in modern applications are often heterogeneous in that different entities share (i.e., compete for) common network resources. Frequently the processing capacity of resources is limited and there are bottlenecks, resulting in congestion and delay due to entities waiting for processing. The control and analysis of such networks present challenging mathematical problems.
      This talk will explore the effects of resource sharing in stochastic networks and describe associated mathematical analysis based on elegant fluid and diffusion approximations. Illustrative examples will be drawn from biology and telecommunications.