Matrix-based conflict resolution algorithm: Application to path selection in PN-based scheduling search

This paper presents an algorithm that selects a group of independent events out of a given set of possibly conflicting actions. The procedure is matrix-based and was implemented in JAVA to guide backtracking scheduling search based on a Petri Net-derived model of flow. The manufacturing systems particularly addressed in the implementation are using Web Services to implement the Service-Oriented-Architecture pattern. However, the conflict resolution method is applicable to more general settings, provided that conflicts are automatically detectable and expressible in matrix-form.