Applications of artificial neural networks for calculation of the Erlang B formula and its inverses

Abstract In this article, a novel approach to calculate the Erlang B formula and its inverses is proposed. It is based on application of artificial neural networks (ANNs). Namely, ANNs are trained to calculate the Erlang B call blocking probability as well as to solve the inverse problem, i.e. to calculate the required number of channels or the maximum amount of traffic for the given call blocking probability. Comparing to direct calculation of Erlang B formula, computational efficiency is significantly increased, while the accuracy is maintained. As far as the calculation of Erlang B inverse values is considered, as there is a lack of exact mathematical formulas, the proposed approach provides the closed‐form mathematical expressions.