Merging and Splitting Petri Net Models within Distributed Embedded Controller Design

Design of distributed embedded controllers can benefit from the adoption of a model-based developmentattitude, where Petri nets modeling can provide support for a comprehensive specification and documentationof the system together with verification capabilities and automatic deployment into implementationplatforms. This chapter presents a Petri nets-based development flow based on composition anddecomposition of Petri net models, using Input-Output Place-Transition Petri nets (IOPT nets) as theunderlying formalism, allowing reusability of models in new situations through a net addition operation,as well as partitioning of the model into components using a net splitting operation. Distributedembedded controllers are addressed adding the concept of time domains to IOPT nets. Finally, a toolchain framework is presented supporting the whole development process, from specification to implementation,including property verification, simulation, and automatic code generation for deploymentinto implementation platforms (considering hardware-based implementation and VHDL coding orsoftware-oriented implementation and C coding).