Real-Time Systems Development

Chapter 13

UML for real-time systems

13.1 Chapter overview

UML is a graphical language available to describe systems by expressing their

constructs and relationships. This includes both static and dynamic rela-

tionships. For real-time systems, the availability of statecharts and sequence

diagrams fulfils the requirement to describe run-time dynamics which are

an important part of real-time systems development. Object-oriented Design

(OOD) is the normal methodology that UML supports.

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13.2 A Unified Modelling Language

Any design method must support the move from the often slim set of func-

tional requirements provided by a customer, to the burgeoning complexity of

a computer-based system. As a graphical language, UML can help to record

information and relationships which emerge during the analysis and design

stages of the software lifecycle. It is a visual language, not a design method,

and so supports the activities of analyst–programmers, over a spectrum of

methods, but especially in the area of Object-oriented Design (OOD). The

supporters of UML advocate its accepted uniformity and flexibility to adopt

new extensions covering other design methods should they emerge in the

future.

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