Petri Net Models Optimized for Simulation

Petri nets and simulation are a modeling paradigm and a tool, respectively, which may be successfully combined for diverse applications, such as performance evaluation, decision support, or training on complex systems. Simulation may require significant computer resources; hence, in this chapter, two Petri net-based formalisms are analyzed for profiting from their respective advantages for modeling, simulation, and decision-making support: a set of alternative Petri nets and a compound Petri net. These formalisms, as well as the transformation algorithms between them, are detailed and an illustrative example is provided. Among the main advantages of these formalisms, their intuitive application for modeling discrete event systems in the process of being designed, as well as the compactness that may present the resulting model, in the case of a compound Petri net, leading to efficient decision making, can be mentioned.