Re: FAA To Finally Ditch Floppy Disks & Win-95

On Fri, 13 Jun 2025 22:38:38 -0400, c186282 wrote:

   In any case it's become very clear that a major update is needed for
   the US airport/routing system. Knowing the govt process, the stuff
   will already be obsolete by the time it's installed, but not nearly
   SO obsolete.

In the early '70s we had a contract to build the controllers for the ALS
system. The heart of the controller was an Eagle Signal electromechanical
stepping switch which was pretty much obsolete. The harnesses had to be
laced since the FAA wasn't sure about those new-fangled nylon cable ties.

   There are few radiation-hardened chips coming out these days. We're
   still talking 80s tech. Slow - but robust. Big enough transistors so
   cosmic rays and such won't compromise things.

One project I worked on used TI's TMS9900 microprocessor of TI-99/4 fame.
Or notoriety, take your pick. Its claim to fame was TI produced rad-hard
parts. TI had ties to the defense industry that made them a natural.

TI was also involved with the 'expert systems' flavor of AI after neural
networks fell on their face in the '80s.