Editing Linear-feedback shift register (section)

=== Non-binary Galois LFSR ===
Binary Galois LFSRs like the ones shown above can be generalized to any ''q''-ary alphabet {0, 1, ..., ''q''&nbsp;−&nbsp;1} (e.g., for binary, ''q'' = 2, and the alphabet is simply {0, 1}). In this case, the exclusive-or component is generalized to addition [[Modular arithmetic|modulo]]-''q'' (note that XOR is addition modulo 2), and the feedback bit (output bit) is multiplied (modulo-''q'') by a ''q''-ary value, which is constant for each specific tap point. Note that this is also a generalization of the binary case, where the feedback is multiplied by either 0 (no feedback, i.e., no tap) or 1 (feedback is present). Given an appropriate tap configuration, such LFSRs can be used to generate [[Finite field|Galois fields]] for arbitrary prime values of ''q''.