We consider a tandem fluid model with multiple consecutive buffers. The inp
ut of buffer j + 1 is the output from buffer j, while the first buffer is f
ed by a, possibly infinite, number of independent homogeneous on-off source
s. The sources have exponentially distributed silent periods and generally
distributed active periods. Under the assumption that the input rate of one
source is larger than the maximum output rate of the first buffer, we are
able to characterize the output from each buffer. Due to this fact we find
(i) an equation for the Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the marginal content
distribution of any buffer j greater than or equal to 2, (ii) explicit exp
ressions for corresponding moments, and (iii) an explicit expression for th
e correlation between two buffer contents, again from the second buffer on.
These results make use of a key observation concerning the aggregate conte
nts of several consecutive buffers. For the case in which the active period
s of the sources are exponential, the Laplace-Stieltjes transform is invert
ed. If there is only one source, all results are also valid for the first b
uffer. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. MSC: 60K25.