Modularization, Composition, and Hierarchization of Petri Nets with Heraklit
This work addresses the need for modularization and decomposition in system design, offering a method for composing Petri nets, but it is incremental as it builds on existing concepts without broad real-world validation.
The paper tackles the problem of understanding complex computer-based systems by proposing a universal composition operator for Petri nets, combined with refinement and algebraic representation, and demonstrates through case studies how large systems can be built from small net snippets.
It is known for decades that computer-based systems cannot be understood without a concept of modularization and decomposition. We suggest a universal, expressive, intuitively attractive composition operator for Petri nets, combined with a refinement concept and an algebraic representation of nets and their composition. Case studies show exemplarily, how large systems can be composed from tiny net snippets. In the future, more field studies are needed to better understand the consequences of the proposed ideas in the real world.