Process architecture

About: Process architecture is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4876 publications have been published within this topic receiving 104171 citations.

Bridging the Gap Between Design and Implementation of Discrete-Event Controllers

Abstract: Extended labeled Petri nets (ELPNs), i.e., labeled Petri nets with inhibitor arcs, are usually used to model the desired closed-loop behavior of a controlled discrete-event system, and, as such, their states are formed with both the controller and the plant states. However, the control logic is based on the controller states only and the interaction between controller and plant is carried out through sensor readings from the plant and control actions (forced events) from the controller. This makes ELPN not suitable for modeling the controller. Control interpreted Petri nets (CIPNs), on the other hand, include control actions in the places and sensor readings in the transitions as part of their formal structure, and so provide a better formalism for controller modeling. In this paper, we propose a two-step approach to discrete-event controller implementation, as follows: (i) we first propose a set of transformation rules to convert the initial ELPN to an equivalent CIPN, therefore extracting the control logic from the desired closed-loop behavior and (ii) we present a straightforward systematic way to translate the CIPN into a ladder diagram. We apply the results presented here to the implementation of the automation system of a plastic molding machine.

Validation of information system models: Petri nets and test case generation

Abstract: High-level Petri nets provide a graphical language for the modeling of distributed information systems. Petri nets can be validated by simulation. In this paper, a technique is proposed which generates test cases for the simulation of high-level Petri nets in a systematic way. The approach is called cause-effect-net-concept and is derived from a program code testing concept, the so-called cause-effect graphing. As an extension of the concept, a method for test data generation is demonstrated.

Synthesis of Petri Nets from Scenarios with VipTool

Abstract: The aim of this tool paper is twofold: First we show that VipTool [9,2] can now synthesize Petri nets from partially ordered runs. To integrate this extension and further new functionalities, we changed the architecture of VipTool to a flexible plug-in technology. Second we explain how VipTool including the synthesis feature can be used for a stepwise and iterative formalization and validation procedure for business process Petri net models. The synthesis functionalities fill a gap in a previously defined procedure [9,7] where the first definition of an initial process model had to be done "by hand", i.e. without any tool support.

Petri Net-Based Cooperation In Multi-Agent Systems

Abstract: We present a formal framework for robotic cooperation in which we use an extension to Petri nets, known as workflow nets, to establish a protocol among mobile agents based on the task coverage they maintain. Our choice is motivated by the fact that Petri nets handle concurrency and that goal reachability can be theoretically established. We describe the means by which cooperation is performed with Petri nets and analyze their structural and behavioral characteristics in order to show the correctness of our framework.