CHECKSUM GENERATOR WITH MINIMUM OVERFLOW

A checksum generator includes at least one adding circuit for processing a segment of a given message. Associated with the adding circuit is a register for temporarily holding the partial sum that is being calculated by the adding circuit. The register is configured to hold a partial sum that is larger than the message segments being added by the adding circuit. The partial sums can thus expand into the register, eliminating the creation of a carry bit that must be added back in during each add cycle. After the last message segment has been processed, the adding circuit preferably adds the high order portion of the register to the low order portion and adds back any carry bit generated thereby to produce a checksum value that may be loaded into the given message.