Fibonacci and Galois Representations of Feedback-With-Carry Shift Registers

A feedback-with-carry shift register (FCSR) with "Fibonacci" architecture is a shift register provided with a small amount of memory which is used in the feedback algorithm. Like the linear feedback shift register (LFSR), the FCSR provides a simple and predictable method for the fast generation of pseudorandom sequences with good statistical properties and large periods. In this paper, we describe and analyze an alternative architecture for the FCSR which is similar to the "Galois" architecture for the LFSR. The Galois architecture is more efficient than the Fibonacci architecture because the feedback computations are performed in parallel. We also describe the output sequences generated by the-FCSR, a slight modification of the (Fibonacci) FCSR architecture in which the feedback bit is delayed for clock cycles before being returned to the first cell of the shift register. We explain how these devices may be configured so as to generate sequences with large periods. We show that the -FCSR also admits a more efficient "Galois" architecture.