BOOLEAN ALGEBRA

The English mathematician George Boole (1815-1864)

sought to give symbolic form to Aristotle's system of
logic.
Boole wrote a treatise on the subject in 1854, titled
An Investigation of the Laws of Thought
on Which Are Founded the Mathematical Theories of
Logic and Probabilities which codified several rules of
relationship between mathematical quantities limited to
one of two possible values: true or false, 1 or 0.
His mathematical system became known as Boolean
algebra.
 All arithmetic operations performed with Boolean
quantities have one of two possible outcomes: either
1 or 0.
 There is no such thing as "2" or "-1" or "1/2" in the
Boolean world.
 It is a world in which all other possibilities are invalid
by fiat.
 This is not the kind of math you want to use when
balancing a checkbook or calculating current
through a resistor.
However, Claude Shannon of MIT fame recognized
how Boolean algebra could be applied to on-and-off
circuits, where all signals are characterized as either
"high" (1) or "low" (0).
His 1938 thesis, titled
A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching
Circuits
put Boole's theoretical work to use in a way Boole never
could have imagined, giving us a powerful
mathematical tool for designing and analyzing digital
circuits.

We have already discussed logic gates and their

representation.
Basic Boolean Operators & Logic Gates
• Inverter
• AND gate
• OR gate
• NAND gate
• NOR gate
• Exclusive-OR gate
• Exclusive-NOR gate

Describing logic circuits algebraically

• Any logic circuit, no matter how complex, can be
completely described using the three basic Boolean
operations: OR, AND, NOT
 • An example: a logic circuit with its Boolean
expression

Precedence
Problem
There are two ways to interpret
A • B + C:
a) Is it (A AND B) then ORed with C Or
b) A ANDed with (B OR C)?
Solution
In Boolean algebra it is always AND before OR Unless
we use parentheses ():

Example : What is the value of Z if:

Z = (A•B + C)D
A = 0, B = 1, C = 0, D = 1?
Z = (0•1 + 0)1
= (1•1 + 0)1
= (1 + 0)1
= 1•1
= 0•1
 =0

Basic rules of Boolean algebra

Boolean arithmetic
Addition

It does not matter how many or few terms we add

together, either. Consider the following sums:
In other words, Boolean addition corresponds to the
logical function of an "OR" gate, as well as to parallel
switch contacts:

There is no such thing as subtraction and there is no

such thing as division in Boolean mathematics.
Multiplication
Multiplication is valid in Boolean algebra, and
thankfully it is the same as in real-number algebra.
Boolean multiplication corresponds to the logical function
of an "AND" gate, as well as to series switch contacts:

Boolean variables are always CAPITAL letters, never

lower-case.
Complement
Because Boolean variables are allowed to possess only
one of two possible values, either 1 or 0, each and every
variable has a complement: the opposite of its value.
Example: if variable "A" has a value of 0, then the
complement of A has a value of 1.

the complement of "A" denoted as "A-not" or "A-bar".

Duality Theorem
Every law has two expressions, this is known as duality.
These are obtained by changing
 every AND(.) to OR(+),
 every OR(+) to AND(.) and
 all 1's to 0's and vice-versa.

It has become conventional to drop the . (AND symbol)

i.e. A.B is written as AB.

Boolean algebraic identities

In mathematics, an identity is a statement true for all
possible values of its variable or variables.
x+0=x
Additive Identities
there are four Boolean additive identities
 A+0 = A
 A+1 = 1
 A+A = A
 A+A'= 1
identity - 1

when A=1, the output will also be 1; when A=0, the

output will also be 0.
identity - 2

No matter what the value of A, the sum of A and 1 will

always be 1.
identity - 3

connecting both inputs of an OR gate to each other and

activating them with the same signal.
Thus, when we add a Boolean quantity to itself, the sum
is equal to the original quantity:
0 + 0 = 0, and 1 + 1 = 1.
Identity – 4
Introducing the uniquely Boolean concept of
complementation into an additive identity

Multiplicative Identities
there are also four multiplicative identities:
 Ax0 = 0
 Ax1 = A
 AxA = A
 AxA' = 0
In normal algebra 3 x 3 = 32 = 9, which has no meaning
in Boolean algebra. the product of a Boolean quantity
and itself is the original quantity, since 0 x 0 = 0 and 1 x
1=1
Double Complement Identity
Complementing a variable twice (or any even number of
times) results in the original Boolean value.

Boolean algebraic properties

Another type of mathematical identity, called a
"property" or a "law", describes how differing variables
relate to each other in a system of numbers.
 commutative property
 associative property
  distributive property

Commutative Property

Associative Property
Distributive Property
we have the distributive property, illustrating how to
expand a Boolean expression formed by the product of a
sum, and in reverse shows us how terms may be
factored out of Boolean sums-of-products:

Boolean rules for simplification

Boolean algebra finds its most practical use in the
simplification of logic circuits.
 If we translate a logic circuit's function into
symbolic (Boolean) form, and
 apply certain Boolean algebraic rules to the
resulting equation to reduce the number of terms
and/or arithmetic operations
  the simplified equation may be translated back into
circuit form for a logic circuit performing the same
function with fewer components.

If equivalent function may be achieved with fewer

components, the result will be increased reliability
and decreased cost of manufacture.
The identities and properties are very useful in
Boolean simplification.
However, the rules shown in this section are all unique to
Boolean mathematics.

First Rule
Second Rule
Third Rule
Boolean function
A binary variable can take the value of 0 or 1.
A Boolean function is an expression formed with
 binary variables,
 the two binary operators OR and AND
 The unary operator NOT
 parentheses and equal sign.
Based on values of variables, the function can be either
1 or 0.
A Boolean function may be represented as
 Algebric expression
 Truth table

Algebric expression
Example 1: If a function is
F1 =xyz’
Then F1 = 1, if x=1, y=1, z’=1 and for all other
combination of x, y, z, F1 = 0
F1=0
Truth table
Representation of Boolean function using Truth Table,
we need a list of 2n combinations of 0’s and 1’s of the n
variables and a column to show the combinations for
which the function is equal to 1 or 0.

Example X Y Z F1 F2 F3 F4
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
F1 = xyz’ 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
0 1 0 0 0 0 0
F2 = x + y’z 0 1 1 0 0 1 1
F3 = x’y’z + x’yz + xy’ 1 0 0 0 1 1 1
1 0 1 0 1 1 1
F4 = xy’ + x’y 1 1 0 1 1 0 0
1 1 1 0 1 0 0

For F1, Value is 1 when x=1, y=1 and z=0

F2 will be 1 when x = 1 or y=0 and z=1,
F3 will be 1 when x=0, y=0, z=1 or
x=0,y=1,z=1 or
x=1 y=0

Similarly, F4 can be calculated.

Output of F3 and F4 are same i.e. same functionality
can be achieved using fewer gates and simple logic.
Algebraic Simplification
There are no specific rules to follow that will guarantee
the final answer. The only method available is a cut-and-
try procedure employing the postulates, the basic
theorems and any other manipulation method which
becomes familiar with use.
Example :
1. x+x’y = (x+x’)+(x+y) : distributive law x + yz = (x+y)(x+z)
= 1. (x+y) : x+ x’ = 1
= (x +y)

2. x(x’+y) = xx’ + xy
= 0 + xy
= xy

3. x’y’z + x’yz + xy’ = x’z(y’+y) + xy’ = x’z + xy’

4. xy+x’z+yz = xy+x’z+yz(x+x’)
= xy+x’z+xyz+x’yz
= xy(1+z)+ x’z(1+y)
= xy + x’z
5. (x+y)(x’+z)(y+z) = (x+y)(x’+z)
By duality theorem from function 4

Boolean Expression for Logic Circuit

Let's begin with a semiconductor gate circuit in need of
simplification.

Our first step in simplification must be to write a

Boolean expression for this circuit.

Circuit simplification examples

Now, apply the rules of Boolean algebra to reduce the
expression to its simplest form (simplest defined as
requiring the fewest gates to implement):
Now, we must generate a schematic diagram from this
Boolean expression. To do this,
 evaluate the expression, following proper
mathematical order of operations multiplication
before addition
 operations inside parentheses before anything
else, and
 draw gates for each step.

Obviously, this circuit is much simpler than the original,

having only two logic gates instead of five. Such
component reduction results in
  higher operating speed (less delay time from input
signal transition to output signal transition),
 less power consumption,
 less cost, and greater reliability.
Electromechanical relay circuits, typically being
slower, consuming more electrical power to operate,
costing more, and having a shorter average life than
their semiconductor counterparts, benefit dramatically
from Boolean simplification.
Example 2 : Let's consider an example circuit:

The easiest way I've found to do this is to follow the

same steps I'd normally follow to reduce a series-parallel
resistor network to a single, total resistance
Remember that
 parallel contacts are equivalent to Boolean
addition
 while series contacts are equivalent to Boolean
multiplication.
apply the rules of Boolean algebra to reduce the
expression to its simplest form

The Exclusive-OR function

DeMorgan's Theorems

Example 1
let's take the expression (A + (BC)')' and reduce it using
DeMorgan's Theorems:
Following the advice of breaking the longest (uppermost)
bar first

As a result, the original circuit is reduced to a three-

input AND gate with the A input inverted:

Example 2

Let's apply the principles of DeMorgan's

theorems to the simplification of a gate
circuit:
first step in simplifying this circuit must be to generate an
equivalent Boolean expression.

Now, we reduce this expression using the identities,

properties, rules, and theorems (DeMorgan's) of
Boolean algebra:
The equivalent gate circuit for this much-simplified
expression is as follows:

Example 3
Applying DeMorgan's Theorems
The following procedure illustrates the application of DeMorgan's theorems and Boolean
algebra to the specific expression

Step l. Identify the terms to which you can apply DeMorgan's theorems, and think of
each term as a single variable. Let A + BC = X and D(E + F) = Y.

Step 2. Since X + Y = X Y,

= (A + BC) (D(E + F))

Step 3. Use rule 9 (A = A) to cancel the double bars over the left term (this is not part
of DeMorgan's theorem).

(A + BC) (D(E + F)) = (A + BC)(D(E + F ))

Step 4. Applying DeMorgan's theorem to the second term,

(A + BC)(D(E + F)) = (A + BC)(D + (E + F ))

Step 5. Use rule 9 (A = A) to cancel the double bars over the E + F part of the term.

(A + BC)(D + E + F) = (A + BC)(D + E + F)