Prime filtration ($M_i/M_{i-1}\cong R/P_i$)

A prime filtration of a module over a commutative ring is a finite increasing chain from zero to the module with each nonzero successive quotient module isomorphic to $R/P$ for a prime ideal $P$. Every finitely generated module over a Noetherian ring has one. In each nonzero quotient, a maximal annihilator of a module element is prime supplies a cyclic submodule $R/P$; lift it and repeat. The ascending chain condition for a Noetherian module makes the process terminate. This is not necessarily a composition series: the prime ideals need not be maximal.