How to convert a serialized array string to an array?

How to convert a serialized array string to an array?

References

Reference NO 1

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/684553/convert-php-array-string-into-an-array

Reference NO 2

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6465709/converting-array-to-string-and-then-back-in-php

Reference NO 3

http://www.tuxradar.com/practicalphp/5/11/0

Reference NO 4

http://php.net/manual/en/function.unserialize.php

Reference NO 5

http://processwire.com/talk/topic/3616-jquery-serialized-string-to-php-array/

Reference NO 6

http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.param/

Reference NO 7

http://davidwalsh.name/php-serialize-unserialize-issues

Reference NO 8

http://board.phpbuilder.com/showthread.php?10356126-RESOLVED-Convert-array-to-string