Parameterized Petri nets and their application to planning and coordination in intelligent systems

A new class of Petri nets (PNs), called parameterized Petri Nets (PPNs), is proposed and applied for planning and coordination of intelligent systems. The PPN approach uses a hierarchical organization to deal with the complexity characteristic of net representations, through parameterization of transitions and the use of generalized or parameterized places in higher level nets. A unique useful characteristic of PPNs is that they can be used to generate a high level, abstract plan, even in the absence of complete information, which may be mapped into a specific plan at a lower level of the hierarchy. The PPN system model structural properties are verified based on the corresponding PN model.