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Military Systems

Military Scheduling in Australia

These papers show how CPNs and CPN Tools have been used in the development of the Course of Action Scheduling Tool (COAST). The aim of COAST is to support human planners in the specification and scheduling of tasks in a Course of Action. The CPN model has been extracted in executable form from CPN Tools and embedded directly into COAST, thereby automatically bridging the gap between the formal specification and its implementation, but the use of formal methods is transparent to the users.

  • L.M. Kristensen, P. Mechlenborg, L. Zhang, B. Mitchell, G.E. Gallash: Model-based Development of a Course of Action Scheduling Tool. In International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer, 10(1), 2008, Springer-Verlag, 5-14.
  • L.M. Kristensen, P. Mechlenborg, L. Zhang, B. Mitchell, G.E. Gallash: Model-based Development of a Course of Action Scheduling Tool. In K. Jensen (ed.): Proceedings of the Seventh Workshop and Tutorial on Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and the CPN Tools, October 2006, Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus, PB-579, 1-16.

Operational Planning in Australia

The following papers present the formal specification and analysis of the business process for planning at the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters (DJFHQ) of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The DJFHQ is a Joint Headquarters (HQ) for the Army, Navy and Air Force of the ADF. It can be deployed for offshore military operations and has been deployed for operations such as East Timor in 1999.

  • B. Mitchell, L.M. Kristensen, L. Zhang: Formal Specification and State Space Analysis of an Operational Planning Process. In International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer, 9(3-4), 2007, Springer-Verlag, 255-267.
  • B. Mitchell, L.M. Kristensen, L. Zhang: Formal Specification and State Space Analysis of an Operational Planning Process In: K. Jensen (ed.): Proceedings of the Fifth Workshop and Tutorial on Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and the CPN Tools, October 2004, Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus, PB-570, 1-18.

Defence Logistics Networks in Australia

Military logistics concerns the activities required to support operational forces. It encompasses the storage and distribution of materiel, management of personnel and the provision of facilities and services. A desire to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Australian Defence Force logistics process has led to the investigation of rigorous military logistics models suitable for analysis and experimentation. The following papers present a CPN model of a military logistics system and discuss some experiences in developing an initial model. Interesting modelling problems encountered, and their solutions and impact on CPN support tools, are discussed.

  • G.E. Gallasch, N. Lilith, J. Billington, L. Zhang, A. Bender, B. Francis: Modelling Defence Logistics Networks. In International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer, 10(1), 2008, Springer-Verlag, 75-93.
  • G.E. Gallasch, N. Lilith, J. Billington, L. Zhang, A. Bender, B. Francis: Modelling Defence Logistics Networks In K. Jensen (ed.): Proceedings of the Seventh Workshop and Tutorial on Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and the CPN Tools, October 2006, Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus, PB-579, 117-136.

Military Communications Gateway in Australia

The following paper presents a project in which a gateway between a Tactical Packet Radio Network and Broadband ISDN was being designed. CP-nets and the CPN tools were used to investigate the gateway architecture and behaviour prior to implementation. Two different CPN models were developed. The first specifies the service to be provided by the gateway, while the second is a refined specification, involving more architectural aspects of the gateway.

  • D.J. Floreani, J. Billington: Designing and Verifying a Communications Gateway Using Colored Petri Nets and Design/CPN. In J. Billington and W. Reisig (eds.): Application and Theory of Petri Nets 1996. Proceedings of the 17th International Petri Net Conference, Osaka 1996, Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol. 1091, Springer-Verlag 1996, 153-171.

The project is also described in Chapter 8 of:

Influence Nets for the US Air Force

The following papers describe how CP-nets can be used to improve military planning. This project was sponsored by the US Air Force. The papers describe how an influence net (also called a Bayesian inference net) can be automatically translated into a CPN model. In this way it becomes possible to augment a static equilibrium model with information about the sequence and timing of the different controllable actions. It is believed that the technology will allow a closer coupling between static models designed to assess situations and compare potential courses of actions, and dynamic models that can be used to provide detailed planning and evaluation of those courses of actions.

  • L W. Wagenhals, I. Shin, A.H. Levis: Creating Executable Models of Influence Nets with Coloured Petri Nets. International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer, 2 (1998), Springer-Verlag, 168-181.
  • L.W. Wagenhals, A.H. Levis: Converting Influence Nets With Timing Information To A Discrete Event System Model, A Colored Peri Net. In K.Jensen (ed.): Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and Design/CPN, Aarhus 1999, Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus, PB-541, 1-20.
  • B. Lindstrøm, S. Haider: Equivalent Coloured Petri Nets Models of a Class of Timed Influence Nets with Logic. In: K. Jensen (ed.): Proceedings of the Third Workshop and Tutorial on Practical Use of Coloured Petri Nets and the CPN Tools, August 2001, Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus, PB-554, 35-54

Missile Simulator in Australia

The following paper describes the modelling and analysis of a distributed air-to-air missile simulator being developed by the research arm of the Australian Armed Forces. The simulator was developed as a testing platform for missile guidance and control algorithms. The paper presents two different CPN models. An abstract model specifies the service provided by the simulator to the graphical user interface and the user. A more detailed model describes the functionality of the simulator. The two CPN models are small enough to allow them to be explained in considerable detail, allowing the reader to investigate many different aspects of CPN modelling. Both models were validated by means of simulation. During the investigation of the detailed model, five different charts were used to produce an on-the- y display of the simulation results. This provides a straightforward and natural way to follow the simulation. Finally, for a given set of input parameters, state spaces were used to verify that the communication was correct and deadlock free.

Naval Command and Control System in Canada

The following paper describes how CP-nets and the CPN tools were used to model and investigate a conceptual naval vessel. The CPN model represents the behaviour and real-time aspects of critical system components. It is used to assess the performance of different decision policies for weapon assignment. The authors discuss the feasibility of CP-nets for providing a proper framework and a suitable simulation environment to model command and control systems.

  • J. Berger, L. Lamontagne: A Colored Petri Net Model for a Naval Command and Control System. In: M. Ajmone-Marsan (ed.): Application and Theory of Petri Nets 1993. Proceedings of the 14th International Petri Net Conference, Chicago 1993, Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol. 691, Springer-Verlag 1993, 532-541.

The project is also described in Chapter 17 of: