The Input-Output Place-Transition Petri Net Class and Associated Tools

Petri nets are a well-known formalism widely used in different application areas. Yet, the lack of adequate tools that can be integrated within engineering development frameworks are one major drawback. This paper identifies and justifies the characteristics of one class of Petri nets targeted for the modelling of automation systems and (networked) embedded systems, named as input-output Petri net (IOPT), and its representation using the Petri net markup language (PNML). The paper also presents a set of associated tools under development. This Petri net class, defined on top of the well-known place-transition Petri nets, is the common link across a set of tools under development, including a graphical editor, a state-space analyser for the verification of properties, conflict resolution through automatic arbiter generation, automatic code generators, simulator, among others. In this sense, the main goal of the proposed Petri net class and associated tools is to support the entire system development flow, from specification to implementation.