Modelling with generalized stochastic Petri nets. (English) Zbl 0843.68080

Marsan, M. Ajmone; Balbo, G.; Donatelli, S.; Franceschinis, G.; Conte, G.

Wiley Series in Parallel Computing. Chichester: Wiley. xxi, 301 p. (1995).

The book (300/pages) presents a unified theory of Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets together with a set of examples from different application fields. It is divided into two parts. Part 1 comprises Chapters 1-6, and summarizes the main results in Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets (GSPN) theory. Part 2 (chapters 7-11) presents examples of application of the GSPN methodology. Chapter 1 contains an informal introduction to Petri nets. Chapter 2 provides a formal definition of Petri nets, Petri net systems, and Petri net models, and contains a summary of some of the definitions and results of classical Petri net theory that are most useful for the development of the theory in the rest of the book. Chapter 3 contains a first discussion about the introduction of temporal concepts into Petri nets, and provides an intuitive justification for the importance of priority in timed Petri nets. Chapter 4 presents formal definitions and theoretical results for Petri nets with priority. Chapter 5 provides the definition of stochastic Petri net (SPN) and GSPN, as well as a description of the dynamic behaviour of these models. Chapter 6 illustrates the techniques for the analysis of SPN and GSPN models.
The second part of the book is entirely devoted to application examples, to show how the GSPN methodology can be used in different fields. It presents the application of Petri nets for performance evaluation of distributed systems, with examples taken from the computing, communications, and manufacturing fields, using either simulation or numerical methods. In summary reasers will find a clear and informal explanation of the concepts followed by formal definitions when necessary or helpful. In general it is a recommanded and useful book for students of computer science and beginners in the field of Petri net applications and for a first approach to the GSPN field.

Reviewer: H.-D.Gerhardt (Rostock)

MSC:

68Q85	Models and methods for concurrent and distributed computing (process algebras, bisimulation, transition nets, etc.)
68-01	Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to computer science

Keywords:

generalized stochastic Petri nets