Petri net analysis using boolean manipulation

Abstract

This paper presents a novel analysis approach for bounded Petri nets. The net behavior is modeled by boolean functions, thus reducing reasoning about Petri nets to boolean calculation. The state explosion problem is managed by using Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs), which are capable to represent large sets of markings in small data structures. The ability of Petri nets to model systems, the flexibility and generality of boolean algebras, and the efficient implementation of BDDs, provide a general environment to handle a large variety of problems. Examples are presented that show how all the reachable states (1018) of a Petri net can be efficiently calculated and represented with a small BDD (103 nodes). Properties requiring an exhaustive analysis of the state space can be verified in polynomial time in the size of the BDD.