Originally Posted by
RR_NDB
About "Circuitry complexity and Failure Rate" we could implement a better one with less components and simpler circuitry, just using denser Integrated Circuits.
But aren't denser IC's just moving the complexity "up the chain", as it were? Denser IC's also tend to generate more heat energy, so the new components would have to be re-certified - an expensive and time-consuming process.
Complexity and lack of predictability in new hardware is the reason that digital circuitry introduced in aviation tends to be of the simpler "tried and true" designs (which would be considered obsolete in terms of consumer devices) rather than the latest generation hardware - it's also the reason I throw my hands up in the air every time I hear FBW/FMC avionics systems compared with modern PC computer technology.