Moment generating function approach to performance analysis of extended stochastic Petri nets

A moment generating function approach for performance analysis of extended stochastic Petri nets (ESPN) is proposed. In ESPN, firing delays of transitions can be either deterministic or stochastic with an extended distribution. Transfer functions for transitions are first defined based on moment generating functions of all transitions and then used to evaluate system performance. Three fundamental structures that can be reduced into a single transition are discussed. Two examples are given to illustrate the proposed approach for system performance evaluation. The advantages and limitations of such an approach are discussed, and future research directions are indicated