Service Scheduling for Random Requests with Fixed Waiting Costs

Abstract: We study service scheduling problems in a slotted system in which agents arrive with service requests according to a Bernoulli process and have to leave within two slots after arrival, service costs are quadratic in service rates, and there are also waiting costs. We consider fixed waiting costs. We frame the problems as average cost Markov decision processes. While the studied system is a linear system with quadratic costs, it has state dependent control. Moreover, it also possesses a non-standard cost function structure in the case of fixed waiting costs, rendering the optimization problem complex. Here, we characterize optimal policy. We also consider a system in which the agents make scheduling decisions for their respective service requests keeping their own cost in view. We again consider fixed waiting costs and frame this scheduling problem as a stochastic game. Here, we provide Nash equilibrium.