On the compared expressiveness of arc, place and transition time Petri nets

International audienceIn this paper, we consider safe Time Petri Nets where time intervals (strict and large) are associated with places (TPPN), arcs (TAPN) or transitions (TTPN). We give the formal strong and weak semantics of these models in terms of Timed Transition Systems. We compare the expressiveness of the six models w.r.t. (weak) timed bisimilarity (behavioral semantics). The main results of the paper are : (i) with strong semantics, TAPN is strictly more expressive than TPPN and TTPN ; (ii) with strong semantics TPPN and TTPN are incomparable ; (iii) TTPN with strong semantics and TTPN with weak semantics are incomparable. Moreover, we give a complete classification by a set of 9 relations explained in a figure

Performance evaluation of an emergency call center: tropical polynomial systems applied to timed Petri nets

We analyze a timed Petri net model of an emergency call center which processes calls with different levels of priority. The counter variables of the Petri net represent the cumulated number of events as a function of time. We show that these variables are determined by a piecewise linear dynamical system. We also prove that computing the stationary regimes of the associated fluid dynamics reduces to solving a polynomial system over a tropical (min-plus) semifield of germs. This leads to explicit formul{\ae} expressing the throughput of the fluid system as a piecewise linear function of the resources, revealing the existence of different congestion phases. Numerical experiments show that the analysis of the fluid dynamics yields a good approximation of the real throughput.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures. A shorter version can be found in the proceedings of the conference FORMATS 201

A Forward Reachability Algorithm for Bounded Timed-Arc Petri Nets

Timed-arc Petri nets (TAPN) are a well-known time extension of the Petri net model and several translations to networks of timed automata have been proposed for this model. We present a direct, DBM-based algorithm for forward reachability analysis of bounded TAPNs extended with transport arcs, inhibitor arcs and age invariants. We also give a complete proof of its correctness, including reduction techniques based on symmetries and extrapolation. Finally, we augment the algorithm with a novel state-space reduction technique introducing a monotonic ordering on markings and prove its soundness even in the presence of monotonicity-breaking features like age invariants and inhibitor arcs. We implement the algorithm within the model-checker TAPAAL and the experimental results document an encouraging performance compared to verification approaches that translate TAPN models to UPPAAL timed automata.Comment: In Proceedings SSV 2012, arXiv:1211.587

Decision Problems for Petri Nets with Names

We prove several decidability and undecidability results for nu-PN, an extension of P/T nets with pure name creation and name management. We give a simple proof of undecidability of reachability, by reducing reachability in nets with inhibitor arcs to it. Thus, the expressive power of nu-PN strictly surpasses that of P/T nets. We prove that nu-PN are Well Structured Transition Systems. In particular, we obtain decidability of coverability and termination, so that the expressive power of Turing machines is not reached. Moreover, they are strictly Well Structured, so that the boundedness problem is also decidable. We consider two properties, width-boundedness and depth-boundedness, that factorize boundedness. Width-boundedness has already been proven to be decidable. We prove here undecidability of depth-boundedness. Finally, we obtain Ackermann-hardness results for all our decidable decision problems.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

An Operational Petri Net Semantics for the Join-Calculus

We present a concurrent operational Petri net semantics for the join-calculus, a process calculus for specifying concurrent and distributed systems. There often is a gap between system specifications and the actual implementations caused by synchrony assumptions on the specification side and asynchronously interacting components in implementations. The join-calculus is promising to reduce this gap by providing an abstract specification language which is asynchronously distributable. Classical process semantics establish an implicit order of actually independent actions, by means of an interleaving. So does the semantics of the join-calculus. To capture such independent actions, step-based semantics, e.g., as defined on Petri nets, are employed. Our Petri net semantics for the join-calculus induces step-behavior in a natural way. We prove our semantics behaviorally equivalent to the original join-calculus semantics by means of a bisimulation. We discuss how join specific assumptions influence an existing notion of distributability based on Petri nets.Comment: In Proceedings EXPRESS/SOS 2012, arXiv:1208.244

Supervisory Control and High-level Petri nets

The Supervisory Control Theory (SCT) (Ramadge & Wonham, 1989) was developed to provide a formal methodology for the automatic synthesis of controllers for Discrete Event Systems (DES). In this theory, a system, called a plant, is assumed to have uncontrollable behaviours which may violate some desired specifications. Hence, these behaviours have to be controlle

Comparison of Different Semantics for Time Petri Nets

International audienceIn this paper we study the model of Time Petri Nets (TPNs) where a time interval is associated with the firing of a transition, but we extend it by considering general intervals rather than closed ones. A key feature of timed models is the memory policy, i.e. which timing informations are kept when a transition is fired. The original model selects an \emphintermediate semantics where the transitions disabled after consuming the tokens, as well as the firing transition, are reinitialised. However this semantics is not appropriate for some applications. So we consider here two alternative semantics: the \emphatomic and the \emphpersistent atomic ones. First we present relevant patterns of discrete event systems which show the interest of these semantics. Then we compare the expressiveness of the three semantics w.r.t. the weak time bisimilarity establishing inclusion results in the general case. Furthermore we show that some inclusions are strict with unrestricted intervals even when nets are bounded. Then we focus on bounded TPNs with upper-closed intervals and we prove that the semantics are equivalent. Finally taking into account both the practical and the theoretical issues, we conclude that persistent atomic semantics should be preferred

TIME EXTENSIONS OF PETRI NETS FOR MODELLING AND YERIFICATION OF HARD REAL-TIME SYSTEMS

The main aim ofthepaper is apresentation oftime extensions ofPetri nets appropriate for modelling and analysis o f hard real-time systems. It is assumed, that the extensions must provide a model o f time flow, an ability to force a transition to fire within a stated timing constraint (the so-called the strongfiring rule), and timing constraints represented by inte- rvals. The presented survey includes extensions o f classical Place/Transition Petri nets, as well as the ones applied to high-level Petri nets. An expressiveness o f each time extension is illustrated using simple hard real-time system. The paper includes also a brief description o f analysis and verification methods related to the extensions, and a survey o f software tools supporting modelling and analysis o f the considered Petri nets