On an equivalence between loss rates and cycle maxima in queues and dams

We consider the loss probability of a customer in a single-server queue with finite buffer and partial rejection and show that it can be identified with the tail distribution of the cycle maximum of the associated infinite-buffer queue. This equivalence is shown to hold for the GI/G/1 queue and for dams with state-dependent release rates. To prove this equivalence, we use a duality for stochastically monotone recursions, developed by Asmussen and Sigman (1996). As an application, we obtain several exact and asymptotic results for the loss probability and extend Takács' formula for the cycle maximum in the M/G/1 queue to dams with variable release rate.