Petri net
/ˈpɛtrɪ ˌnɛt/ /ˈpiːtrɪ ˌnɛt/Mathematics and Computing
noun
A form of graph with directed edges and two kinds of node (one kind representing places and the other transitions, with each kind connected only to the other kind), which is used as a tool for modelling systems expressing both concurrency and sequential constraints.
- A Petri net is loaded by placing ‘tokens’ on some place nodes. When all the places connected to an immediately succeeding transition node hold at least one token, that transition removes one token from each of those (input) places and adds one to each immediately succeeding (output) place. The current state of the system modelled is described by the number and type of tokens at each place of the Petri net, and the evolution of the system is described by sequences of transition ‘firings’..
Origin
1960s. From the name of Carl Adam Petri, German mathematician, who formulated the concept in 1962 + net.