diff --git a/tools/firmware-utils/Makefile b/tools/firmware-utils/Makefile
index d789dcb34f..b1622369f6 100644
--- a/tools/firmware-utils/Makefile
+++ b/tools/firmware-utils/Makefile
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ define Host/Compile
 	$(call cc,imagetag)
 	$(call cc,add_header)
 	$(call cc,makeamitbin)
+	$(call cc,encode_crc)
 	$(call cc2,mkplanexfw sha1)
 	$(call cc2,mktplinkfw md5)
 endef
diff --git a/tools/firmware-utils/src/encode_crc.c b/tools/firmware-utils/src/encode_crc.c
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..647fb92e89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/firmware-utils/src/encode_crc.c
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+/* **************************************************************************
+
+   This program creates a CRC checksum and encodes the file that is named
+   in the command line.
+   
+   Compile with:  gcc encode_crc.c -Wall -o encode_crc
+
+   Author:     Michael Margraf  (michael.margraf@freecom.com)
+   Copyright:  Freecom Technology GmbH, Berlin, 2004
+               www.freecom.com
+
+  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+  General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+  Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+
+ ************************************************************************* */
+
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+
+// *******************************************************************
+// CCITT polynom G(x)=x^16+x^12+x^5+1
+#define POLYNOM  0x1021
+
+// CRC algorithm with MSB first
+int make_crc16(int crc, char new)
+{
+  int i;
+  crc = crc ^ (((int)new) << 8);
+  
+  for(i=0; i<8; i++) {  // work on 8 bits in "new"
+    crc <<= 1;          // MSBs first
+    if(crc & 0x10000)  crc ^= POLYNOM;
+  }
+  return crc & 0xFFFF;
+}
+
+// *******************************************************************
+// Reads the file "filename" into memory and returns pointer to the buffer.
+static char *readfile(char *filename, int *size)
+{
+	FILE		*fp;
+	char		*buffer;
+	struct stat	info;
+	
+	if (stat(filename,&info)!=0)
+		return NULL;
+
+	if ((fp=fopen(filename,"r"))==NULL)
+		return NULL;
+
+	buffer=NULL;
+	for (;;)
+	{
+		if ((buffer=(char *)malloc(info.st_size+1))==NULL)
+			break;
+
+		if (fread(buffer,1,info.st_size,fp)!=info.st_size)
+		{
+			free(buffer);
+			buffer=NULL;
+			break;
+		}
+
+		buffer[info.st_size]='\0';
+		if(size) *size = info.st_size;
+
+		break;
+	}
+
+	(void)fclose(fp);
+
+	return buffer;
+}
+
+
+// *******************************************************************
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+  if(argc < 3) {
+    printf("ERROR: Argument missing!\n\n");
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  int count;  // size of file in bytes
+  char *p, *master = readfile(argv[1], &count);
+  if(!master) {
+    printf("ERROR: File not found!\n");
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  int crc = 0xFFFF, z;
+
+  p = master;
+  for(z=0; z<count; z++)
+    crc = make_crc16(crc, *(p++));  // calculate CRC
+  short crc16 = (short)crc;
+
+	/*
+  if(argc > 2) {   // with flag for device recognition ?
+    p = argv[2];
+    for(z=strlen(p); z>0; z--) {
+      crc ^= (int)(*p);
+      *(p++) = (char)crc;  // encode device flag
+    }
+  }
+	*/
+
+  p = master;
+  for(z=0; z<count; z++) {
+    crc ^= (int)(*p);
+    *(p++) = (char)crc;  // encode file
+  }
+
+
+  // write encoded file...
+  FILE *fp = fopen(argv[2], "w");
+  if(!fp) {
+    printf("ERROR: File not writeable!\n");
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  if(argc > 3) {  // add flag for device recognition ?
+    fwrite(argv[3], strlen(argv[3]), sizeof(char), fp);
+  }
+  else {
+    // Device is an FSG, so byte swap (IXP4xx is big endian)
+    crc16 = ((crc16 >> 8) & 0xFF) | ((crc16 << 8) & 0xFF00);
+  }
+
+  fwrite(&crc16, 1, sizeof(short), fp);     // first write CRC
+
+  fwrite(master, count, sizeof(char), fp);  // write content
+  fclose(fp);
+
+  free(master);
+  return 0;
+}