State-space size estimation of Petri nets: a bottom-up perspective

Petri nets are a popular system modeling methodology, although the typical state-space explosion is problematic. An estimate of the state-space size has many uses: determining the appropriateness of a particular analysis technique; evaluating the trade-off between model detail and solution complexity; and providing data for state-space size reduction algorithms. This paper presents an estimation algorithm based on subnets and interconnections (i.e., a bottom-up approach). The algorithm allows relatively arbitrary subnets and is extendable via development of additional interconnections. Several subnets and interconnections are developed, and a multiworkcell manufacturing example is presented