In this paper, we analyze the performance of adaptive modulation-based Bell-labs layered space-time systems with finite-length queuing model. Since the thresholds values for the adaptive modulation scheme should be optimized when the queuing model is taken into account in the system, cross-layer performance analysis on the queuing behavior is necessary. The most important contribution of our work is to express the service rate distribution of adaptive modulation-based BLAST system in closed form. Moreover, from discrete Markov chain analysis, we obtain the performance of the queuing model such as overall packet error rate and average queuing delay. Then, we discuss three applications of the accurate numerical results in cross-layer designs. The accuracy of the numerical results is verified by Monte Carlo simulations.