checksum

2 definitions found

checksum - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  checksum
      n 1: a digit representing the sum of the digits in an instance
           of digital data; used to check whether errors have occurred
           in transmission or storage

checksum - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  checksum
  
     <storage, communications> A computed value which depends on
     the contents of a block of data and which is transmitted or
     stored along with the data in order to detect corruption of
     the data.  The receiving system recomputes the checksum based
     upon the received data and compares this value with the one
     sent with the data.  If the two values are the same, the
     receiver has some confidence that the data was received
     correctly.
  
     The checksum may be 8 bits (modulo 256 sum), 16, 32, or some
     other size.  It is computed by summing the bytes or words of
     the data block ignoring overflow.  The checksum may be
     negated so that the total of the data words plus the checksum
     is zero.
  
     Internet packets use a 32-bit checksum.
  
     See also digital signature, cyclic redundancy check.
  
     (1996-03-01)