A general model for the behaviour of infinite buffers with periodic service opportunities

Abstract In this paper a discrete buffered system with infinite buffer size is considered, where the output channels are available only periodically. The analysis holds for a general bulk arrival process and a general probability mass function for the number of output channels available. The condition for stochastic equilibrium is obtained and the generating function of the buffer occupancy is derived. Various examples illustrate the generality of the analysis and several previously found results are obtained as special cases of it.