A Petri-net Based Methodology To Integrate Qualitative and Quantitative-analysis

An innovative net-based methodology to integrate qualitative and quantitative analysis of distributed software systems is outlined, and an on-going prototype implementation of a related graphic-oriented tool kit is sketched. The proposed method combines qualitative analysis, monitoring and testing as well as quantitative analysis on the basis of a net-based intermediate representation of the distributed software system under consideration. All transformations (from the distributed software system into a first Petri net model, and between the different kinds of net models) can be made formally, and therefore automated to a high degree. The evaluation of quantitative properties is based on so-called object nets which are obtained by a property-preserving structural compression and quantitative expansion of the qualitative model. In this way, the frequency and delay attributes necessary to generate quantitative models are provided by the monitoring and testing component.