Modelling and simulation of complex systems using TPN Designer

This paper describes a Java-based simulation toolset––timed Petri nets (TPN) Designer––which supports modelling, discrete-event simulation and performance analysis of modular and complex TPN. A TPN model can be organised as a collection of (possibly hierarchical structured) pages linked to one another by input/output ports. Pages can be replicated so as to build regular topologies like pipeline or grid. The configuration of large models is assisted by a scripting language, which allows connections and set up operations (e.g. for the definition of the initial marking and the parameters of transitions) to be automated. TPN Designer consists of two integrated environments: TPN CAD for graphically designing a TPN model and TPN ENGINE for model compilation, debugging, simulation and statistical data collection. The paper gives an overview to TPN Designer and shows its practical use through examples.