New region-based algorithms for deriving bounded Petri nets

The theory of regions was introduced in the early nineties as a method to bridge state and event-based models. This paper tackles the problem of deriving a Petri net from a state-based model, using the theory of regions. Some of the restrictions required in the traditional approach are dropped in this paper, together with significant extensions that make the approach applicable in new scenarios. One of these scenarios is Process Mining, where accepting (discovering) additional behavior in the synthesized Petri net is sometimes valued. The algorithmic emphasis used in this paper contributes to the demystification of the theory of regions as been only a good theoretical exercise, opening the door for its application in the industrial domain.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Mine your own business : using process mining to turn big data into real value

Like most IT-related phenomena, also the growth of event data complies with Moore’s Law. Similar to the number of transistors on chips, the capacity of hard disks, and the computing power of computers, the digital universe is growing exponentially and roughly doubling every 2 years. Although this is not a new phenomenon, suddenly many organizations realize that increasing amounts of “Big Data” (in the broadest sense of the word) need to be used intelligently in order to compete with other organizations in terms of efficiency, speed and service. However, the goal is not to collect as much data as possible. The real challenge is to turn event data into valuable insights. Only process mining techniques directly relate event data to end-to-end business processes. Existing business process modeling approaches generating piles of process models are typically disconnected from the real processes and information systems. Data-oriented analysis techniques (e.g., data mining and machines learning) typically focus on simple classification, clustering, regression, or rule-learning problems. This keynote paper provides pointers to recent developments in process mining thereby clearly showing that process mining provides a natural link between processes and data on the one hand and performance and compliance on the other hand

"Mine your own business" : using process mining to turn big data into real value

Like most IT-related phenomena, also the growth of event data complies with Moore’s Law. Similar to the number of transistors on chips, the capacity of hard disks, and the computing power of computers, the digital universe is growing exponentially and roughly doubling every 2 years. Although this is not a new phenomenon, suddenly many organizations realize that increasing amounts of "Big Data" (in the broadest sense of the word) need to be used intelligently in order to compete with other organizations in terms of efficiency, speed and service. However, the goal is not to collect as much data as possible. The real challenge is to turn event data into valuable insights. Only process mining techniques directly relate event data to end-to-end business processes. Existing business process modeling approaches generating piles of process models are typically disconnected from the real processes and information systems. Data-oriented analysis techniques (e.g., data mining and machines learning) typically focus on simple classification, clustering, regression, or rule-learning problems. This keynote paper provides pointers to recent developments in process mining thereby clearly showing that process mining provides a natural link between processes and data on the one hand and performance and compliance on the other hand. Keywords: Process Mining, Process Discovery, Conformance Checking, Business Process Management

Bounded Petri Net Synthesis from Modal Transition Systems is Undecidable

In this paper, the synthesis of bounded Petri nets from deterministic modal transition systems is shown to be undecidable. The proof is built from three components. First, it is shown that the problem of synthesising bounded Petri nets satisfying a given formula of the conjunctive nu-calculus (a suitable fragment of the mu-calculus) is undecidable. Then, an equivalence between deterministic modal transition systems and a language-based formalism called modal specifications is developed. Finally, the claim follows from a known equivalence between the conjunctive nu-calculus and modal specifications

Region-based algorithms for process mining and synthesis of Petri nets

The theory of regions was introduced in the early nineties as a bridge between state-based and event-based specifications. Since then, much attention has been paid to theoretical extensions of this theory, but less advances have appeared in the application domain. This paper provides contributions in both dimensions: the theory of bisimulation-based synthesis from Cortadella {em et al.} is generalized and adapted to the area of Process Mining. On the application domain, efficient methods and data structures to support the synthesis problem are developed, together with a practical implementation. Experiments reported witness the practicality of the approach described in this paper.Postprint (published version

Reduction rules for reset workflow nets

When a workflow contains a large number of tasks and involves complex control flow dependencies, verification can take too much time or it may even be impossible. Reduction rules can be used to abstract from certain transitions and places in a large net and thus could cut down the size of the net used for verification. Petri nets have been proposed to model and analyse workflows and Petri nets reduction rules have been used for efficient verification of various properties of workflows, such as liveness and boundedness. Reset nets are Petri nets with reset arcs, which can remove tokens from places when a transition fires. The nature of reset arcs closely relates to the cancellation behaviour in workflows. As a result, reset nets have been proposed to formally represent workflows with cancellation behaviour, which is not easily modelled in ordinary Petri nets. Even though reduction rules exist for Petri nets, the nature of reset arcs could invalidate the transformation rules applicable to Petri nets. This motivated us to consider possible reduction rules for reset nets. In this paper, we propose a number of reduction rules for Reset Workflow Nets (RWF-nets) that are soundness preserving. These reduction rules are based on reduction rules available for Petri nets [19] and we present the necessary conditions under which these rules hold in the context of reset nets

Proceedings of the 22nd Conference on Formal Methods in Computer-Aided Design – FMCAD 2022

The Conference on Formal Methods in Computer-Aided Design (FMCAD) is an annual conference on the theory and applications of formal methods in hardware and system verification. FMCAD provides a leading forum to researchers in academia and industry for presenting and discussing groundbreaking methods, technologies, theoretical results, and tools for reasoning formally about computing systems. FMCAD covers formal aspects of computer-aided system design including verification, specification, synthesis, and testing

Proceedings of the 22nd Conference on Formal Methods in Computer-Aided Design – FMCAD 2022

The Conference on Formal Methods in Computer-Aided Design (FMCAD) is an annual conference on the theory and applications of formal methods in hardware and system verification. FMCAD provides a leading forum to researchers in academia and industry for presenting and discussing groundbreaking methods, technologies, theoretical results, and tools for reasoning formally about computing systems. FMCAD covers formal aspects of computer-aided system design including verification, specification, synthesis, and testing

Zur Komplexität der Synthese von Petri-Netzen

Petri-Netz-Synthese fragt für ein reguläres Verhalten, das als Transitionssystem A gegeben ist, ob es ein Petri-Netz (einer bestimmten Klasse) gibt, das A implementiert. Diese Arbeit untersucht Varianten dieses Entscheidungsproblems für verschiedene Implementierungen und eine Vielzahl von Petri-Netz-Klassen aus Sicht der klassischen und der parametrisierten Komplexität. Ebenso wird die Komplexität der Modifikations-Techniken Neubeschriftung sowie Kanten-, Ereignis- und Zustandslöschung untersucht, die darauf abzielen, nicht-implememtierbare Transitionssysteme implementierbar zu machen.Petri net synthesis asks, for a regular behavior given as a transition system A, whether there exists a Petri net (of a particular class) that implements A. This work investigates variants of this decision problem for different implementations and a variety of Petri net classes from the point of view of classical and parameterized complexity. Also investigated is the complexity of the modification techniques of relabeling and edge, event, and state deletion, which aim to make non-implementable transition systems implementable