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We consider a single-server queue with renewal arrivals and i.i.d. service times in which the server uses the shortest remaining processing time policy. To describe the evolution of this queue, we use a measure-valued process that keeps track of the residual service times of all buffered jobs. We propose a fluid model (or formal law of large numbers approximation) for this system and, under mild assumptions, prove the existence and uniqueness of fluid model solutions. Furthermore, we prove a scaling limit theorem that justifies the fluid model as a first-order approximation of the stochastic model. The state descriptor of the fluid model is a measure-valued function whose dynamics are governed by certain inequalities in conjunction with the standard workload equation. In particular, these dynamics determine the evolution of the left edge (infimum) of the state descriptor's support, which yields conclusions about response times. We characterize the evolution of this left edge as an inverse functional of the initial condition, arrival rate, and service time distribution. This characterization reveals the manner in which the growth rate of the left edge depends on the service time distribution. By considering varying examples, the authors show that the rate can vary from logarithmic to polynomial.

This paper contains an asymptotic analysis of a fluid model for a heavily loaded processor sharing queue. Specifically, we consider the behavior of solutions of critical fluid models as time approaches ∞. The main theorems of the paper provide sufficient conditions for a fluid model solution to converge to an invariant state and, under slightly more restrictive assumptions, provide a rate of convergence. These results are used in a related work by Gromoll for establishing a heavy traffic diffusion approximation for a processor sharing queue.

We develop a heavy traffic diffusion limit theorem under nonstandard spatial scaling for the queue length process in a single server queue employing shortest remaining processing time (SRPT). For processing time distributions with unbounded support, it has been shown that standard diffusion scaling yields an identically zero limit. We specify an alternative spatial scaling that produces a nonzero limit. Our model allows for renewal arrivals and i.i.d. processing times satisfying a rapid variation condition. We add a corrective spatial scale factor to standard diffusion scaling, and specify conditions under which the sequence of unconventionally scaled queue length processes converges in distribution to the same nonzero reflected Brownian motion to which the sequence of conventionally scaled workload processes converges. Consequently, this corrective spatial scale factor characterizes the order of magnitude difference between the queue length and workload processes of SRPT queues in heavy traffic. It is determined by the processing time distribution such that the rate at which it tends to infinity depends on the rate at which the tail of the processing time distribution tends to zero. For Weibull processing time distributions, we restate this result in a manner that makes the resulting state space collapse more apparent.

In this paper, we develop a new approach to studying the asymptotic behavior of fluid model solutions for critically loaded processor sharing queues. For this, we introduce a notion of relative entropy associated with measure-valued fluid model solutions. In contrast to the approach used in [12], which does not readily generalize to networks of processor sharing queues, we expect the approach developed in this paper to be more robust. Indeed, we anticipate that similar notions involving relative entropy may be helpful for understanding the asymptotic behavior of critical fluid model solutions for stochastic networks operating under various resource sharing protocols naturally described by measure-valued processes. Introduction.In the context of multiclass queueing networks operating under head-of-the-line (HL) service disciplines, Bramson [1] and Williams [15] have developed a modular approach for establishing heavy traffic diffusion approximations to such networks. In particular, they have given sufficient conditions under which asymptotic behavior of critical fluid model solutions can be used to prove state space collapse and thereby a heavy traffic limit theorem justifying a diffusion approximation. Although the HL assumption covers a wide variety of service disciplines, including firstin-first-out (FIFO) and static priorities, it requires that service for a given job class is concentrated on the job at the head-of-the-line. Consequently, it does not cover some disciplines that arise naturally in applications, such as the processor sharing discipline. While it is desirable to have a modular approach to proving diffusion approximations for stochastic networks with