Modeling computer hardware using the Unified Modeling Language

The design algorithm of computer hardware functional units constitutes a major step in the overall design of the system. It requires highly reliable modeling entities to illustrate the different intermediate stages to go from problem specification to the final system development. These stages constitute the behavioral as well as the functional aspect of the overall system. We illustrate the use of the Unified Modeling Language, UML, using a simple communication service and protocol. The different UML diagrams will be used to configure the system model. In particular, we start with the use case diagram and proceed to the final stage of the deployment stage A parallel to serial protocol converter is used to illustrate the method.