SynchNet: A Petri Net Based Coordination Language for Distributed Objects

  • Reza Ziaei
  • Gul Agha
Conference paper
Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 2830)

Abstract

We present SynchNet, a compositional meta-level language for coordination of distributed. Its design is based on the principle of separation of concerns, namely separation of the coordination from computational aspects. SynchNet can be used in combination with any object-based language capable of expressing sequential behavior of objects. SynchNet, which is inspired by Petri nets, has a simple syntax and semantics, but is expressive enough to code many of the commonly used coordination patterns. The level of abstraction that it provides allows tools and techniques developed for Petri nets to be readily applied to analysis and verification of the specified coordination patterns.

Keywords

Object Reference Coordination Pattern Label Transition System Base Language Common Object Request Broker Architecture 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. 1.
    Agha, G.: Actors: A Model of Concurrent Computation in Distributed Systems. MIT Press, Cambridge (1986)Google Scholar
  2. 2.
    Astley, M., Sturman, D., Agha, G.: Customizable middleware for modular distributed software. Communications of the ACM 44(5), 99–107 (2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    Cruz, J.-C., Ducasse, S.: Coordinating open distributed systems. In: Proceedings of International Workshop in Future Trends in Distributed Computing Systems 1999, Cape Town, South Africa (1999)Google Scholar
  4. 4.
    U.S. Department of Defence. Reference Manual for the Ada programming language. DoD, Washington, D.C. (January 1983) Google Scholar
  5. 5.
    Dijkstra, E.W.: Guarded commands, nondeterminacy, and formal derivation of programs. Comm. ACM 8, 453–457 (1975)CrossRefMathSciNetGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    Esparza, J., Nielsen, M.: Decidability issues for petri nets - a survey. Inform. Process. Cybernet. 30, 143–160 (1994)MATHGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    Giese, H.: Contract-based component system design. In: HICSS (2000)Google Scholar
  8. 8.
    Object Management Group. Common Object Request Broker Architecture. OMG (1999)Google Scholar
  9. 9.
    Hansen, P.B.: Distributed processes: A concurrent programming concept. Comm. ACM 21(11), 934–941 (1978)MATHCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Hoare, C.A.R.: Communicating sequential processes. Comm. ACM 21(8), 151–160 (1978)CrossRefMathSciNetGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Hoare, C.A.R.: Communicating Sequential Processes. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1985)MATHGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    Kiczales, G., Lamping, J., Menhdhekar, A., Maeda, C., Lopes, C., Loingtier, J.-M., Irwin, J.: Aspect-oriented programming. In: Aksit, M., Matsuoka, S. (eds.) ECOOP 1997. LNCS, vol. 1241, pp. 220–242. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Kumaran, I., Kumaran, S.: JINI Technology: An Overview. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (2001)Google Scholar
  14. 14.
    Lopes, A., Fiadeiro, J.L., Wemelinger, M.: Architectural primitives for distribution and mobility. In: SIGSOFT 2002/FSE-10, pp. 18–22 (November 2002)Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    Matsuoka, S., Yonezawa, A.: Analysis of inheritance anomaly in object-oriented concurrent programming languages. In: Agha, G., Wegner, P., Yonezawa, A. (eds.) Research Directions in Concurrent Object-Oriented Programming, pp. 107–150. MIT Press, Cambridge (1993)Google Scholar
  16. 16.
    Minsky, N.H., Ungureanu, V.: Law-governed interaction: a coordination and control mechanism for heterogeneous distributed systems. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology 9(3), 273–305 (2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Peterson, J.: Petri net theory and the modeling of systems. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1981)Google Scholar
  18. 18.
    Petri, C.A.: Kommunikation mit Automaten. PhD thesis, University of Bonn, Bonn, West Germany (1962)Google Scholar
  19. 19.
    Frølund, S.: Coordinating Distributed Objects: An Actor Based Approach to Coordination. MIT Press, Cambridge (1996)Google Scholar
  20. 20.
    Sessions, R.: COM and DCOM: Microsoft’s Vision for Distributed Objects. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester (1997)Google Scholar
  21. 21.
    Tichelaar, S.: A coordination component framework for open distributed systems. Master’s thesis, University of Groningen (1997)Google Scholar
  22. 22.
    Venkatasubramanian, N., Talcott, C.L.: Reasoning about meta level activities in open distributed systems. In: Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing, pp. 144–152 (1995)Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003

Authors and Affiliations

  • Reza Ziaei
    • 1
  • Gul Agha
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Computer ScienceUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUSA

Personalised recommendations