Visualisation of the behaviour of a Petri net

Abstract

A Petri net is a mathematical modelling language that is used to analyse and explain how to model concurrent systems and synchronise distributed systems Visualisation and simulation are beneficial techniques that can be successfully integrated into various systems, such as concurrent systems, and for training in complex systems. Moreover, visualisation has been used to visualise the representation to gain a more intuitive understanding of a specific system. Researchers have shown that visualisation and simulation tools can be successfully used for various models for concurrency, to support reasoning about concurrent systems. To achieve the aim resulting from these issues, the following research question was formulated: How should the system be implemented in order to help users draw and analyse complicated concurrent systems? This project aims to design and implement a Visualisation of the behaviour of a Petri net (VP/T) net system, which is a graphical tool for drawing and analysing Place/Transition (P/T) nets. The outcome of this project will be a system that allows users to specify a Petri net, simulate and visualise its execution and verify that is can produce a reachability graph of its behavioural properties. This will demonstrate how visualisation and simulation tools can be successfully used for a Petri net to support reasoning about a concurrent system. This visual representation of a Petri net will facilitate a more intuitive understanding of a specific system.