Stability condition of a two-dimensional QBD process and its application to estimation of efficiency for two-queue models

Abstract: In order to analyze stability of a two-queue model, we consider a two-dimensional quasi-birth-and-death process (2d-QBD process), denoted by ${\boldsymbol{Y}(t)}={((L_1(t),L_2(t)),J(t))}$. The two-dimensional process ${(L_1(t),L_2(t))}$ on $\mathbb{Z}_+^2$ is called a level process, where the individual processes ${L_1(t)}$ and ${L_2(t)}$ are assumed to be skip free. The supplemental process ${J(t)}$ is called a phase process and it takes values in a finite set. The 2d-QBD process is a CTMC, in which the transition rates of the level process vary according to the state of the phase process like an ordinary (one-dimensional) QBD process. In this paper, we first state the conditions ensuring a 2d-QBD process is positive recurrent or transient and then demonstrate that the efficiency of a two-queue model can be estimated by using the conditions we obtain.