M[x]/(G1, G2)/1 retrial queue under Bernoulli vacation schedules with general repeated attempts and starting failures

This paper investigates a batch arrival retrial queue with general retrial times, where the server is subject to starting failures and provides two phases of heterogeneous service to all customers under Bernoulli vacation schedules. Any arriving batch finding the server busy, breakdown or on vacation enters an orbit. Otherwise one customer from the arriving batch enters a service immediately while the rest join the orbit. After the completion of two phases of service, the server either goes for a vacation with probability p or may wait for serving the next customer with probability (1 - p). We construct the mathematical model and derive the steady-state distribution of the server state and the number of customers in the system/orbit. Such a model has potential application in transfer model of e-mail system. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.