Toward Distributed Simulation of Complex Discrete Event Systems Represented by Colored Petri Nets: A Review

This paper reviews works in discrete event simulation and distributed simulation using Petri nets with a look toward the distributed simulation of complex systems with Colored Petri Nets. The issues involved with simulation and distributed simulation with Petri nets are presented. First discrete event simulation is discussed outside the context of Petri nets. The need for distributed simulation is presented followed by the issues. These include synchronization using conservative and optimistic methods, and partitioning. The discussion of Petri net simulation is introduced with an argument for the advantage of higher level models for complex systems. Execution policies including race and preselection are compared with their implications for simulation. The literature in distributed simulation with Petri nets is reviewed. This includes partitioning and synchronization schemes which take advantage of the Petri nets model. Available distributed simulation performance results are reported i..