Why are restaurant RF gizmos so complicated?

Yesterday good friends invited us to a brewpub that doesn't take reservations but is very popular. So they have these RF doohickeys that flash and vibrate when your table is ready. This one was clear plastic and I scoped out what's inside. It was mind boggling:

Two chips, three (!) crystals, one resonator, one 455kHz IF filter, lots of SMT transistors, caps, resistors and what not, plus two NiMH or similar cells.

Why on earth are these so complicated? I mean, all they have to do is receive a coded RF signal over a couple hundred feet of distance, then decode it so only the one whose table is ready rings. Can't be more daunting than a garage door opener design, can it?

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
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