Large scale system design aided by modelling and DES simulation: A Petri net approach

The study of real discrete event systems requires the use of models to cope with complexity and large scale. The only way to understand and analyse their behaviour prior to implementation is, in practice, through distributed simulation. Although it is a widely studied discipline, the difficulty of developing efficient distributed simulation code remains a challenge. The use of model driven engineering approaches allows a smooth way from informal specifications to executable code showing traces of the system behaviour. Formal models allow to conduct the phases of this engineering process, and in this work, the formalism is Petri nets. In the simulation literature, Petri nets have been shown to be particularly suitable for modelling and simulation of discrete event systems. This article reviews the role of Petri nets as the core formalism to support a model‐driven engineering approach for the execution of large scale models using distributed simulation. It deals with different aspects related to the Petri net‐based languages used at different stages of the modelling and simulation process, from conceptual modelling of complex systems to the generation of code for executing simulations of Petri net‐based models. After the review, the article proposes an efficient representation of Petri net‐based models. It is analysed from the perspective of the essential properties required for distributed simulation, and was found to provide efficient execution, scalability and dynamic configuration. The article highlights the importance of considering modelling constraints in order to guarantee good properties such as liveness and structural boundedness of Petri net components for the execution of large‐scale Petri net models. The Petri net‐based methodology is illustrated from the perspective of the impact of the formalism to help developing well‐formed models and efficient code for distributed simulation.