In: Microelectronics and Reliability, Vol. 31, No. 4, pages 727-746. 1991.
Abstract: The paper presents a Markov chain (MC) reduction technique for analysis of a certain class of MCs. It requires only O(t) steps. The authors also present a generalized stochastic Petri net (GSPN) model for task allocation in distributed computer systems, where execution and inter-module communication costs are treated as random variables with exponential probability distribution. The MC of this task system falls into a class to which the reduction technique is applicable. As an illustration of the reduction technique, the authors use a GSPN model of the task system to find the mean completion time of the system.
Keywords: Markov chain reduction; generalized stochastic net; task allocation (in) distributed systems; inter-module communication costs; exponential probability distribution; mean completion time.