The Analysis of Resource Constrained Workflows using Petri Nets

A workflow describes a complex process that takes place inside an organization. A workflow can be structured into several perspectives. In order to model both the process and the resouce perspective of workflows, a Petri net model based on nested Petri nets has been proposed: resource workflow nets (RWF-nets). Unlike other models, RWF-nets permit a clear distinction between the perspectives, modelling efficiently their interaction, and ensure the flexibility of the system. A case (or workflow instance) is the subject of the operations in the workflow. RWF-nets permit the handling of one case at a time. This paper extends the definition of RWF-nets in order to allow the handling of multiple cases at a time, defines a notion of behavioural correctness for RWF-nets, k-soundness, and proves the decideability of this property for a special class of RWF-nets.