Airbus A320 CPU

[japlytic]

When I was reading about the A320 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320_family) some of the computers were built around the 8086 (introduced in 1978). I still wonder why the more powerful Motorola 68000 (introduced a year later) was not used.
Could this have something to do with stability issues?

[linuxguru]

Re: Airbus A320 CPU

Embedded systems still use 8-bit CPUs like the venerable 6809 or Z8 or similar stuff from the 70s. There's a huge body of knowledge related to them, and the code for most applications has been thoroughly analyzed, tested, debugged, verified, validated, etc. If you have a working landing gear or transducer controller using an 8-bit CPU, there's no reason to develop a new one with a 32-bit CPU just because the 32-bit CPU is newer and shinier.

It's also easier and less expensive to get mil-spec and aerospace-spec versions of 8 and 16-bit CPUs than most 32-bit CPUs. The 8086 is also available in low-power static and rad-hard versions, which is important for aerospace. You'll also find it inside a lot of missile guidance systems.

[i4004]

Re: Airbus A320 CPU

>I still wonder why the more powerful Motorola 68000

why would they need power?
will they be encoding video, or (essentially) running simple mechanical processes.

they probably have more power in navigation systems....