Patent ID: 7260595

Claim:
A logic circuit for generation of a carry bit output by combining two sets of binary inputs, the logic circuit comprising first logic for receiving a plurality of bits of the binary inputs and for generating at least one intermediate output; final logic for receiving at least one intermediate output of the first logic and for generating the carry bit output; wherein said final logic is arranged to generate the carry bit output using a reduced generate function for a group of bits of the binary inputs and at least one intermediate output from said first logic at least one of which is generated as a reduced generate function of a sub-group of bits of the binary inputs; wherein a reduced generate function for a group of bits, partitioned into at least one most significant bit and at least one least significant bit, is the logical OR of a generate function for the least significant bits and a function X for the most significant bits, where the generate function is high if a carry is generated out of the least significant bits and low if not, and X is a function which is high if a carry is generated out of the most significant bits, low if no carry is generated at any bit position in the most significant bits, and in a don't care state if a carry is generated at some bit position in the most significant bits but no carry is generated out of the most significant bits; and wherein first logic and/or said final logic is arranged to use a reduced generate function in which the group or sub-group of bits of the binary inputs is partitioned so that said at least one most significant bit comprises at least two most significant bits.