Petri net as a modeling tool

Over the last decade, Petri nets have emerged as a most suitable, powerful and widely acceptable modeling tool for representing and studying the asynchronous concurrent hardware (or software) systems/processes. Petri nets can be viewed as formal automata or as an automation which can generate the formal languages or a model to analyse and synthesize various kinds of systems. The structure of Petri nets, their markings, extensions and subclasses are briefly discussed. Several examples of Petri net models of computer hardware and software are presented. Various applications of reachability concepts are also given.     

基于FPGA的有色Petri网仿真系统设计

为了实现大规模有色Petri网模型的性能测试,设计了基于FPGA的高速仿真系统。该系统实现了库所、变迁模块到硬件结构的映射,采用C语言实现了有色Petri网的硬件自动生成工具。通过分析有色Petri网的特征,该工具生成对应的Verilog代码和基于Quartus的自动脚本。以通信中"包传输"的模型为例,在FPGA中对生成的代码进行测试,验证了设计的正确性。     

Modeling, analysis, simulation, scheduling, and control ofsemiconductor manufacturing systems: A Petri net approach

This paper presents a Petri net approach to modeling, analysis, simulation, scheduling, and control of semiconductor manufacturing systems. These systems can be characterized as discrete event systems that exhibit sequential, concurrent, and conflicting relations among the events and operations. Their evolution is dynamic over time. The system complexity is tremendous owing to the complex semiconductor manufacturing processes and test procedures. A formal approach such as Petri nets enables one to describe such complex discrete event systems precisely and thus allows one to perform both qualitative and quantitative analysis, scheduling and discrete-event control of them. This paper also serves as a tutorial paper. It briefly reviews applications of Petri nets in semiconductor manufacturing automation. It then introduces definitions and concepts of Petri nets. It proceeds with a discussion of basic Petri net modules in system modeling, a modeling method and a practical system's modeling example. Next, the paper presents their properties and their implications in manufacturing systems, as well as their analysis methods. Timed Petri nets are introduced for system simulation, performance evaluation, and scheduling purposes. An application-oriented case study is presented. Finally, the paper concludes with the active research areas in applying Petri nets to design of semiconductor manufacturing systems     

Modeling and analysis of message passing in distributedmanufacturing systems

This paper addresses the information flow between devices and programs in computer integrated manufacturing systems. Specifically, it presents modeling techniques and methods for detecting the existence of message paths among hardware and software components and the upper bound on time delays along that message path. The modeling technique can be used to analyze interoperability between hardware and software components in the system in initial design and specification. The modeling technique has three components: an object model to describe the message passing protocols between communicating components; a color timed Petri net to describe the dynamic behavior and state dependency within each individual component; and an object synthesis method that integrates the Petri nets of individual objects and message protocols between objects to describe the dynamics of the entire system. The graphical modeling can enhance communication among different groups involved in system design and the analytical method can provide component specifications. The use of the modeling technique and method in early system design can result in time and cost savings in system integration due to better communication, better component selection and early problem identification     

Model-driven software synthesis for hard real-time applications with energy constraints

Model-driven methods have been quite effective for reducing the intricacies of embedded software development, since they provide effective means for property verification as well as automatic code generation. Nevertheless, regarding energy-constrained hard real-time systems, few model-driven methods are available and, usually, most methods (model-driven or not) consider simplified system specifications, such as absence of intertask relations. This paper presents a model-driven method for software synthesis of hard real-time embedded applications with energy constraints. A formal model based on time Petri nets is adopted in order to provide a basis for pre-runtime schedule generation and property analysis/verification.     

Hardware/Software Co-Design of Complex Embedded Systems: An Approach Using Efficient Process Models, Multiple Formalism Specification and Validation via Co-Simulation

This paper presents a hardware/software co-design approachwhere different specification languages can be used in parallel, allowingeffective system co-modeling. The proposed methodology introduces a processmodel that extends the traditional spiral model so as to reflect the designneeds of modern embedded systems. The methodology is supported by an advancedtoolset that allows co-modeling and co-simulation using SDL, Statecharts andMATRIX_X, and interactive hardware/software partitioning. The effectivenessof the proposed approach is exhibited through two applicati on examples: thedesign of a car window lift mechanism, and the design of a MAC layer protocolfor wireless ATM networks.     

Scheduling of semiconductor test facility via Petri nets and hybridheuristic search

This paper proposes and evaluates two Petri net-based hybrid heuristic search strategies and their applications to semiconductor test facility scheduling. To reduce the setup time, such as the time spent to bring the test facilities to the required temperatures, scheduling multiple lots for each job type together is desirable. Petri nets can concisely model multiple lot sizes for each job, the strict precedence constraints, multiple kinds of resources, concurrent activities and flexible routes. To cope with the complexities for multiple lots scheduling, this paper presents two Petri net-based hybrid heuristic search strategies. They combine the heuristic best-first strategy with the controlled back tracking strategy based on the execution of the Petri nets. The obtained scheduling results are compared and analyzed through a small-size test facility. The better algorithm is also applied to a more sizable facility containing types of resources with a total of 79 pieces and 30 jobs. The future work includes the real-time implementation of the proposed method and scheduling results in real industrial settings     

An Algorithm for Hardware/Software Partitioning Using Mixed Integer Linear Programming

One of the key problems in hardware/software codesign is hardware/software partitioning. This paper describes a new approach to hardware/software partitioning using integer programming (IP). The advantage of using IP is that optimal results are calculated for a chosen objective function. The partitioning approach works fully automatic and supports multi-processor systems, interfacing and hardware sharing. In contrast to other approaches where special estimators are used, we use compilation and synthesis tools for cost estimation. The increased time for calculating values for the cost metrics is compensated by an improved quality of the values. Therefore, fewer iteration steps for partitioning are needed. The paper presents an algorithm using integer programming for solving the hardware/software partitioning problem leading to promising results.     

Qualitative models of molecular function: linking genetic polymorphisms of tRNA to their functional sequelae

The exponential growth in the volume of biological information available makes it difficult for researchers to assemble the details into coherent models. Although an accurate model is ideal, full details are not generally available and are gained only incrementally. Therefore, as a first step toward integration of information, we propose a knowledge model for the qualitative representation of the relationships between mutations in genes and their effects at molecular cellular and clinical phenotypic levels. Our framework combines and extends two components: 1) a workflow model that allows hierarchical process and participant specifications; 2) Transparent Access to Multiple Bioinformatics Information Sources and the Unified Medical Language System, which serve as controlled biological and medical terminologies. By mapping our framework to Petri nets, we can perform qualitative simulations to validate models, and aid in predicting system behavior in the presence of dysfunctional components. This can be a step toward accurate quantitative models. Our application domain is the role of transfer ribonucleic acid molecules in protein translation-related disease. As an initial evaluation, we show that Petri nets derived from the historic and current views of the translation process yield different dynamic behavior. Our model is available at http://smi.stanford.edu/projects/helix/pubs/process-model/.