Stationary waiting time derivatives

We investigate the stability of waiting-time derivatives when inputs to a queueing system-service times and interarrival times-depend on a parameter. We give conditions under which the sequence of waiting-time derivatives admits a stationary distribution, and under which the derivatives converge to the stationary regime from all initial conditions. Further hypotheses ensure that the expectation of a stationary waiting-time derivative is, in fact, the derivative of the expected stationary waiting time. This validates the use of simulation-based infinitesimal perturbation analysis estimates with a variety of queueing processes. We examine waiting-time sequences satisfying recursive equations. Our basic assumption is that the input and its derivatives are stationary and ergodic. Under monotonicity conditions, the method of Loynes establishes the convergence of the derivatives. Even without such conditions, the derivatives obey a linear difference equation with random coefficients, and we exploit this fact to find stability conditions.