A new methodology for analyzing distributed systems modeled by petri nets

Distributed computing systems can be modeled adequately by Petri nets. The computation of invariants of Petri nets becomes necessary for proving the properties of modeled systems. This paper presents a two-phase, bottom-up approach for invariant computation and analysis of Petri nets. In the first phase, a newly defined subnet, called the RP-subnet, with an invariant is chosen. In the second phase, the selected RP-subnet is analyzed. Our methodology is illustrated with two examples viz., the dining philosophers' problem and the connection-disconnection phase of a transport protocol. We believe that this new method, which is computationally no worse than the existing techniques, would simplify the analysis of many practical distributed systems.