Examples of Exponential Averaging

• a =0

1. tn+1 = tn
2. Recent history does not count.

• a =1

1. tn+1 = tn
2. Only the actual last CPU burst counts.

• If we expand the formula, we get:

tn+1 = a tn+(1 - a) a tn -1 + …

            +(1 - a )j a tn -1 + …

            +(1 - a )n=1 tn t0

• Since both a and (1 - a) are less than or equal to 1, each successive term has less weight than its predecessor.