Dwight wrote:
  Another possible is to put an incrementor on the
output.
 This is a simpler circuit than a full adder. 
I wrote:
 > In "discrete" logic, or in an ASIC, it
is simpler. In most FPGAs, it
> will end up taking the same resources and having the same performance
> as a full-adder. 
Dwight wrote:
    Half area but just as long in time. 
Same area
in FPGA, not half.  Almost all FPGAs use LUTs with four or
more inputs, and half-adders generally end up taking a full LUT, just as
a full-adder does.  The exception would be when the incrementer
(half-adders) could be merged with the previous stage of logic, but when
the incrementer follows a full-adder, you can't merge them, because they
each need a separate carry chain.
Eric