DISPATCHING THE UNITS OF EMERGENCY SERVICE SYSTEMS USING AUTOMATIC VEHICLE LOCATION - A COMPUTER-BASED MARKOV HYPERCUBE MODEL

• NCJ Number: 36098
• Author(s): R C LARSON; E A FRANCK
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 55 pages
• Grant Number(s): GI38004
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation
• Corporate Author: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

PRESENTATION OF A MARKOV PROCESS MODEL FOR COMPUTING THE OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF A PERFECT RESOLUTION AUTOMATIC VEHICLE LOCATION (AVL) SYSTEM THAT DISPATCHES THE CLOSEST AVAILABLE UNIT TO EACH CALL FOR SERVICE.

Abstract

THE PROCESS PRESENTED BUILDS ON A RECENTLY DEVELOPED HYPERCUBE QUEUING MODEL. IN IMPLEMENTING THE MODEL FOR EFFICIENT COMPUTER EXECUTION, THE FOCUS IS ON COMPUTATION AND STORAGE MINIMIZING PROCEDURES FOR GENERATING THE STATE-TO-STATE MARKOV TRANSITION RATES. ONE USEFUL TECHNIQUE INVOLVES THE EFFECTIVE APPLICATION OF A RECENTLY DEVELOPED BACKWARD REGENERATIVE UNIT-STEP TOUR OF THE HYPERCUBE. THE ALGORITHMIC PROCEDURES GENERALIZE TO COMPUTER SOLUTIONS OF M/M/N QUEUING SYSTEMS WITH DISTINGUISHABLE SERVERS, DIFFERENT CUSTOMER CLASSES, AND A COST STRUCTURE FOR ASSIGNING SERVERS (WHO MAY BE IN ONE OF SEVERAL POSTURES) TO CUSTOMERS OF EACH CLASS. THE PAPER CONCLUDES WITH A REALISTIC NINE-UNIT POLICE EXAMPLE THAT INDICATES THE GENERAL WAYS IN WHICH AVL DISPATCHING IMPROVES (AND DEGRADES) SYSTEM PERFORMANCE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)