In: J.-M. Colom, M. Koutny (Eds.), Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Proc. of 22nd International Conf. on Applications and Theory of Petri Nets 2001 (ICATPN 2001), pages 303-322. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2075, edited by G. Goos, J. Hartmanis and J. van Leuwen, Springer, June 2001.
Abstract: PBC (Petri Box Calculus) is a process algebra where real parallelism of concurrent systems can be naturally expressed. One of its main features is the definition of a denotational semantics based on Petri nets, which emphasizes the structural aspects of the modelled systems. However, this formal model does not include temporal aspects of processes, which are necessary when considering real-time systems. The aim of this paper is to extend the existing calculus with those temporal aspects. We consider that actions are not instantaneous, that is, their execution takes time. We present an operational semantics and a denotational semantics based on timed Petri nets. Finally, we discuss the introduction of other new features such as time-outs and delays. Throughout the paper we assume that the reader is familiar with both Petri nets and PBC.