2.9 Chapter summary

In this chapter, we gave an overview of basic concepts and notations. We focused on Markov chains, their definition, classification, and solution methods. We described aggregation/decomposition solution techniques for Markov chains, elaborating in detail on the stochastic complementation, a technique that we often refer throughout this dissertation. We illustrated via simple examples the structure of infinite Markov chains with repetitive structures. Finally, we described tractable stochastic processes such as PH distributions and MAPs, which we later use as inputs to queueing models.