Ravencoin, Petri Nets, and Supply Chains


Ravencoin, Petri Nets, and Supply Chains

Andrew Berman 11/25/2018


I show how Ravencoin Tokens can be used to model the state of a Petri Net and give an example of how we can use this model for supply chain management on the Ravencoin blockchain.

A Petri Net ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petri_net ) is a state transition diagram with a certain set of properties. They are defined by three basic components: places, arcs, and transitions. Their state is defined by another type of component: tokens, which move from place to place. Petri nets are sophisticated enough to mimic many business processes.

The state of a Petri Net can be fully represented in the Ravencoin blockchain.  A set of Ravencoin addresses can represent the Petri Net places and Ravencoin tokens can represent the Petri Net tokens.   As Ravencoin does not have smart contracts, the *logic* of the Petri Net remains off chain. Specifically, the movement of the tokens must take place by outside actors.  Note that the state of the Petri Net is what we care about the most, since it represents the state of the business activity.The transitions and arcs can be handled by outside actors, but the movement from one state to another is what is represents the activity of those outside actors. 

As an example, let us look at an IBM example of supply chain on the blockchain and demonstrate how to perform the steps with Ravencoin's blockchain.

  1. The flower grower readies the product for international shipment. Shipment information is added to the blockchain.
  2. As the container awaits transfer to port, officials submit approvals electronically. Blockchain confirms the transaction and executes a smart contract, releasing the shipment. 
  3. The container is loaded onto the ship.
  4. All parties have end-to-end visibility of the container’s progress through the supply chain.
  5. The container arrives at the destination port and clears customs.
  6. Retailer receives the flowers on time and signs electronically. Information is relayed back to the blockchain.

Every step here that mentions a blockchain (steps 1,2,6) can be done on Ravencoin with tokens.  Step 1 simply requires the creation of a new unique token representing the flowers to ship.  Receipts as tokens are sent as the flowers move from place to place.  For step 2, approvals are created by officials also as unique tokens and sent to a collecting address.  Another official will release the shipment when the collecting address receives the necessary tokens and then another token is created when the container is loaded on to the ship.  Finally, in step 6, the retailer creates a receipt token.

In summary, Petri Nets are representable on Ravencoin and supply chain management can be done on Ravencoin in a clean, auditable manner.

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