Controlling Petri Net Behavior using Priorities for Transitions

In this paper we examine how it is possible to control Petri net behavior with the help of transition priorities. Controlling here means forcing a process to behave in a stable way by ascribing priorities to transitions and hence transforming a classic Petri net into a Priority Petri net. For Petri net models stability is often ensured by liveness and boundedness. These properties are crucial in many application areas, e.g. workflow modeling, embedded systems design, and bioinformatics. In this paper we study the problem of transforming a given live, but unbounded Petri net into a live and bounded one by adding priority constraints. We specify necessary conditions for the solvability of this problem and present an algorithm for ascribing priorities to net transitions in such a way that the resulting net becomes bounded while staying live.