Collaborative execution mechanisms for the TCPN-enhanced process-view approach based inter-enterprises workflow

Inter-enterprises workflow is by no means rare recently, which is more complex and dynamic than the intra-enterprise workflow. The Timed Colored Petri Nets (TCPN)-enhanced process-view approach implemented in our previous work provides an effective way to facilitate inter-enterprises workflow management. In this paper, the collaborative execution mechanisms have been developed for the TCPN-enhanced process-view approach based inter-enterprises workflow. The state dependencies mechanism is proposed to facilitate the collaborative execution between TCPN workflow models and process-view workflow models in participating enterprises. The Synchronization Points (SPs) mechanism is proposed to coordinate the execution between process-view workflow models of participating enterprises and the integrated process-view workflow models of the enterprise alliance.