1,224 research outputs found
Process windows
We describe a method for formally representing the behaviour of complex processes by process windows. Each window covers a part of the system behaviour, i.e. a part of the underlying transition system, and is easier to understand and analyse than the complete transition system. Process windows can overlap and have shared states and transitions so that the complete system behaviour is the union of window behaviours. We demonstrate the advantage of such representations when dealing with complex system behaviours, and discuss potential applications in circuit design and process mining. As a motivational example we consider the problem of covering transition systems by marked graphs, or more generally choicefree Petri nets. The obtained windows correspond to choice-free behavioural scenarios of the system, wherein one window can take over, or wake up, after another window has become inactive. The corresponding wake-up conditions and wake-up markings can be derived automatically.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Heuristic Approaches for Generating Local Process Models through Log Projections
Local Process Model (LPM) discovery is focused on the mining of a set of
process models where each model describes the behavior represented in the event
log only partially, i.e. subsets of possible events are taken into account to
create so-called local process models. Often such smaller models provide
valuable insights into the behavior of the process, especially when no adequate
and comprehensible single overall process model exists that is able to describe
the traces of the process from start to end. The practical application of LPM
discovery is however hindered by computational issues in the case of logs with
many activities (problems may already occur when there are more than 17 unique
activities). In this paper, we explore three heuristics to discover subsets of
activities that lead to useful log projections with the goal of speeding up LPM
discovery considerably while still finding high-quality LPMs. We found that a
Markov clustering approach to create projection sets results in the largest
improvement of execution time, with discovered LPMs still being better than
with the use of randomly generated activity sets of the same size. Another
heuristic, based on log entropy, yields a more moderate speedup, but enables
the discovery of higher quality LPMs. The third heuristic, based on the
relative information gain, shows unstable performance: for some data sets the
speedup and LPM quality are higher than with the log entropy based method,
while for other data sets there is no speedup at all.Comment: paper accepted and to appear in the proceedings of the IEEE Symposium
on Computational Intelligence and Data Mining (CIDM), special session on
Process Mining, part of the Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence
(SSCI
Software development for analysis of stochastic petri nets using transfer functions
This thesis research is an implementation of a closed-form analytical technique for study, evaluation and analysis of Stochastic Petri Nets (SPN). The technique is based on a theorem that an isomorphism exists between an SPN and a Markov Chain. The procedure comprises five main steps: reachability graph generation of the underlying Petri net, transformation of the reachability graph to a state machine Petri net, calculation of transfer functions, computation of equivalent transfer functions via Mason\u27s rule, and computation of performance parameters of the SPN model from the equivalent transfer functions and their derivatives. The software is developed in UNIX using C and applied to various SPN models. Future research includes implementation of Mason\u27s rule for complex cases and symbolic derivation of equivalent transfer functions
Recursion Aware Modeling and Discovery For Hierarchical Software Event Log Analysis (Extended)
This extended paper presents 1) a novel hierarchy and recursion extension to
the process tree model; and 2) the first, recursion aware process model
discovery technique that leverages hierarchical information in event logs,
typically available for software systems. This technique allows us to analyze
the operational processes of software systems under real-life conditions at
multiple levels of granularity. The work can be positioned in-between reverse
engineering and process mining. An implementation of the proposed approach is
available as a ProM plugin. Experimental results based on real-life (software)
event logs demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of the approach and show
the huge potential to speed up discovery by exploiting the available hierarchy.Comment: Extended version (14 pages total) of the paper Recursion Aware
Modeling and Discovery For Hierarchical Software Event Log Analysis. This
Technical Report version includes the guarantee proofs for the proposed
discovery algorithm
Formal Object Interaction Language: Modeling and Verification of Sequential and Concurrent Object-Oriented Software
As software systems become larger and more complex, developers require the ability to model abstract concepts while ensuring consistency across the entire project. The internet has changed the nature of software by increasing the desire for software deployment across multiple distributed platforms. Finally, increased dependence on technology requires assurance that designed software will perform its intended function. This thesis introduces the Formal Object Interaction Language (FOIL). FOIL is a new object-oriented modeling language specifically designed to address the cumulative shortcomings of existing modeling techniques. FOIL graphically displays software structure, sequential and concurrent behavior, process, and interaction in a simple unified notation, and has an algebraic representation based on a derivative of the π-calculus. The thesis documents the technique in which FOIL software models can be mathematically verified to anticipate deadlocks, ensure consistency, and determine object state reachability. Scalability is offered through the concept of behavioral inheritance; and, FOIL’s inherent support for modeling concurrent behavior and all known workflow patterns is demonstrated. The concepts of process achievability, process complete achievability, and process determinism are introduced with an algorithm for simulating the execution of a FOIL object model using a FOIL process model. Finally, a technique for using a FOIL process model as a constraint on FOIL object system execution is offered as a method to ensure that object-oriented systems modeled in FOIL will complete their processes based activities. FOIL’s capabilities are compared and contrasted with an extensive array of current software modeling techniques. FOIL is ideally suited for data-aware, behavior based systems such as interactive or process management software
Desynchronization: Synthesis of asynchronous circuits from synchronous specifications
Asynchronous implementation techniques, which measure logic delays at run time and activate registers accordingly, are inherently more robust than their synchronous counterparts, which estimate worst-case delays at design time, and constrain the clock cycle accordingly. De-synchronization is a new paradigm to automate the design of asynchronous circuits from synchronous specifications, thus permitting widespread adoption of asynchronicity, without requiring special design skills or tools. In this paper, we first of all study different protocols for de-synchronization and formally prove their correctness, using techniques originally developed for distributed deployment of synchronous language specifications. We also provide a taxonomy of existing protocols for asynchronous latch controllers, covering in particular the four-phase handshake protocols devised in the literature for micro-pipelines. We then propose a new controller which exhibits provably maximal concurrency, and analyze the performance of desynchronized circuits with respect to the original synchronous optimized implementation. We finally prove the feasibility and effectiveness of our approach, by showing its application to a set of real designs, including a complete implementation of the DLX microprocessor architectur
Recent advances in petri nets and concurrency
CEUR Workshop Proceeding
Modeling of Object-Oriented Programs with Petri Net Structured Objects
The article presents a method for constructing a model of an object-oriented program in terms of multilabeled Petri nets. Only encapsulation - one of the three concepts of object-oriented paradigm - is considered. To model a different aspects of encapsulation a Petri net structured object is proposed. It consists of a Petri net defining its behavior and a set of organized access points specifying its structural properties. Formal composition operations to construct a program model from the models of its methods, classes, objects, functions, and modules are introduced and a source code translation algorithm to Petri net representation is proposed. A special section of the article considers in detail a process of model construction of a real object-oriented program (OOP). Source code of the program, figures with Petri net objects modeling different elements of the program and the resulting model of the program are presented
Petri net based development of globally-asynchronous locally-synchronous distributed embedded systems
Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de ComputadoresA model-based development approach (MBDA) for Globally-Asynchronous Locally-
Synchronous (GALS) Distributed Embedded Systems (DESs) is proposed. This approach
relies on the GALS-DESs specification through (low- or high-level) Petri net classes, which
ensure that the created models are GALS, locally deterministic, distributable, networkindependent,
and platform-independent and support their simulation, verification, and
implementation (using simulation, model-checking, and code generation tools). The use
of network- and platform-independent models enable the use of heterogeneous communication
networks to support the distributed components interaction and enable the use
of heterogeneous platforms to support the components and the communication nodes
implementation. To enable the proposed MBDA, Petri nets are extended with a set of the
concepts, most notably time-domains and asynchronous-channels. Algorithms to support
the verification of GALS-DES models and their decomposition into implementable
sub-models are also proposed. A tool chain framework (IOPT-tools) was extended with
this work proposals, supporting their validation and the GALS-DESs development.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia - grant ref. SFRH/BD/62171/200
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