Resource-Constrained Workflow Nets

Article type: Research Article

Authors: van Hee, Kees | Sidorova, Natalia | Voorhoeve, Marc

Affiliations: Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands. E-mails: k.m.v.hee@tue.nl, n.sidorova@tue.nl, m.voorhoeve@tue.nl

Abstract: We study concurrent processes modelled as workflow Petri nets extended with resource constrains. Resources are durable units that can be neither created nor destroyed: they are claimed during the handling procedure and then released again. Typical kinds of resources are manpower, machinery, computer memory. We define structural criteria based on traps and siphons for the correctness of workflow nets with resource constraints. We also extend the soundness notion for workflow nets to the workflow nets with resource constraints; extra conditions concern the durability of resources. We prove some properties of sound resource-constrained workflow nets.

Keywords: Petri nets, concurrency, workflow, resources, verification

Journal: Fundamenta Informaticae, vol. 71, no. 2-3, pp. 243-257, 2006