Minimization of Switching Functions

1
Zvi Kohavi and Niraj K. Jha

Simplifying Switching Functions

Finding an equivalent switching expression that minimizes some cost
criteria:
1. Minimize literal count
2. Minimize literal count in sum-of-products (or product-of-sums) expression
3. Minimize number of terms in a sum-of-products expression provided no other
expression exists with the same number of terms and fewer literals

Example: f(x,y,z) = x’yz’ + x’y’z + xy’z’ + x’yz + xyz + xy’z

= x’z’ + y’z’ + yz + xz

Irredundant sum-of-products expression: no term or literal can be deleted

without changing its logical value
• Not necessarily minimal: f(x,y,z) = x’z’ + xy’ + yz
• Not necessarily unique: f(x,y,z) = x’y + y’z’ + xz

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The Map Method
Algebraic procedure to combine terms using the Aa + Aa’ = A rule

Karnaugh map: modified form of truth table

Simplification and Minimization of

Functions
Cube: collection of 2m cells, each adjacent to m cells of the collection
• Cube is said to cover these cells
• Cube expressed by a product of n-m literals for a function containing n
variables
• m literals not in the product said to be eliminated

Example: w’xy’z’ + w’xy’z + wxy’z’ + wxy’z = xy’(w’z’ + w’z + wz’ + wz) = xy’

wx
yz 00 01 11 10

00 1 1 1

01 1 1

11 1

10 1

(d) Map for function f(w,x,y,z)

= (4,5,8,12,13,14,15) = wx + xy + wy z . 4

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Minimization (Contd.)
Example: f = yz’ + xy
• Use of cell 6 in forming both cubes justified by idempotent law

Corresponding algebraic manipulations:

f = x’yz’ + xyz’ + xyz
= x’yz’ + xyz’ + xyz’ + xyz
= yz’(x’ + x) + xy(z’ + z)
= yz’ + xy

Minimization (Contd.)
Minimal expression: cover all the 1 cells with the smallest number of cubes
such that each cube is as large as possible
• A cube contained in a larger cube must never be selected
• If there is more than one way of covering the map with a minimal number
of cubes, select the cover with larger cubes
• A cube contained in any combination of other cubes already selected in
the cover is redundant by virtue of the consensus theorem

Rules for minimization:

1. First, cover those 1 cells by cubes that cannot be combined with other 1
cells; continue to 1 cells that have a single adjacent 1 cell (thus can form
cubes of only two cells)
2. Next, combine 1 cells that yield cubes of four cells, but are not part of
any cube of eight cells, and so on
3. Minimal expression: collection of cubes that are as large and as few in
number as possible, such that each 1 cell is covered by at least one
cube

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Minimization (Contd.)
Example: Two irredundant expressions for f(w,x,y,z) = (0,4,5,7,8,9,13,15)

Minimization (Contd.)
Example: f(w,x,y,z) = (1,5,6,7,11,12,13,15)
• Only one irredundant form: f = wxy’ + wyz + w’xy + w’y’z
• Dotted cube xz is redundant

wx
yz 00 01 11 10

00 1

01 1 1 1

11 1 1 1

10 1

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Minimal Product-of-sums
Dual procedure: product of a minimum number of sum factors, provided
there is no other such product with the same number of factors
and fewer literals
• Variable corresponding to a 1 (0) is complemented (uncomplemented)
• Cubes are formed of 0 cells

Example: either one of minimal sum-of-products or minimal product-of-

sums can be better than the other in literal count

Don’t-care Combinations
Don’t-care combination : combination for which the value of the function
is not specified. Either
• input combinations may be invalid
• precise output value is of no importance

Since each don’t-care can be specified as either 0 or 1, a function with k

don’t-cares corresponds to a class of 2k distinct functions. Our
aim is to choose the function with the minimal representation
• Assign 1 to some don’t-cares and 0 to others in order to increase the size
of the selected cubes whenever possible
• No cube containing only don’t-care cells may be formed, since it is not
required that the function equal 1 for these combinations

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5
Code Converter
Example: code converter from BCD to excess-3 code
• Combinations 10 through 15 are don’t-cares

Truth table

Output functions

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Code Converter (Contd.)

wx wx
yz 00 01 11 10 yz 00 01 11 10

00 1 1 1 00 1 1 1

01 01

11 11 1 1

10 1 1 10

f1 map f2 map

wx wx
yz 00 01 11 10 yz 00 01 11 10

00 1 00 1

01 1 1 01 1 1

11 1 11 1

10 1 10 1

f3 map f4 map

f1 = z’
f2 = y’z’ + yz
f3 = x’y + x’z + xy’z’
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f4 = w + xy + xz

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Logic Network for Code Converter
Two-level AND-OR realization:
z f1
y
z
f2
y
z

x
y
x
z f3
x
y
z
x
y
w f4
x
z

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Five-variable Map
General five-variable map:
vwx
yz 000 001 011 010 110 111 101 100

00 0 4 12 8 24 28 20 16

01 1 5 13 9 25 29 21 17

11 3 7 15 11 27 31 23 19

10 2 6 14 10 26 30 22 18

Example: Minimize f(v,w,x,y,z) =

 (1,2,6,7,9,13,14,15,17,22,23,25,29,30,31)

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f(v,w,x,y,z) = x’y’z + wxz + xy + v’w’yz’

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Minimal Functions and Their Properties

Implicants: function f covers function g with the same input variables if f

has a 1 in every row of the truth table in which g has a 1
• If f covers g and g covers f, then f and g are equivalent
• Let h be a product of literals. If f covers h, then h is said to imply f or h is
said to be an implicant of f, denoted as h -> f

Example: If f = wx + yz and h = wxy’, then f covers h and h implies f

Prime implicant p of function f: product term covered by f such that the

deletion of any literal from p results in a new product not covered
by f
• p is a prime implicant if and only if p implies f, but does not imply any
product with fewer literals which in turn also implies f
Example: x’y is a prime implicant of f = x’y + xz + y’z’ since it is covered by
f and neither x’ nor y alone implies f

Theorem: Every irredundant sum-of-products equivalent to f is a union of

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prime implicants of f

Deriving Prime Implicants and Minimal

Expressions
Example: for f(w,x,y,z) = (0,4,5,7,8,9,13,15) below, set of prime implicants
P = {xz, w’y’z’, wx’y’, x’y’z’, w’xy’, wy’z}
wx
yz 00 01 11 10

00 1 1 1

01 1 1 1

11 1 1

10

Essential prime implicants: covers at least one minterm not covered by any
other prime implicant, e.g., xz
• Since all minterms must be covered, all essential prime implicants must
be contained in any irredundant expression of the function

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Minimal Expressions (Contd.)
Example: prime implicants of f(w,x,y,z) = (4,5,8,12,13,14,15) are all
essential
wx
00 01 11 10

00 1 1 1

01 1 1

11 1

10 1

Example: Cyclic prime implicant chart in which no prime implicant is

essential, all prime implicants have the same size, and every 1
cell is covered by exactly two prime implicants

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Procedure for Deriving Minimal Sum-of-

products Expression
Procedure:
1. Obtain all essential prime implicants and include them in the minimal
expression
2. Remove all prime implicants which are covered by the sum of some
essential prime implicants
3. If the set of prime implicants derived so far covers all the minterms, it
yields a unique minimal expression. Otherwise, select additional prime
implicants so that the function is covered completely and the total
number and size of the added prime implicants are minimal

Example: prime implicant xz is covered by the sum of four essential prime

implicants, and hence xz must not be included in any irredundant
expression of the function

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9
Tabulation Procedure for Obtaining the
Set of All Prime Implicants
Systematic Quine-McCluskey tabulation procedure: for functions with a
large number of variables
• Fundamental idea: repeated application of the combining theorem
Aa + Aa’ = A on all adjacent pairs of terms yields the set of all prime
implicants

Example: minimize f1(w,x,y,z) = (0,1,8,9) = w’x’y’z’ + w’x’y’z + wx’y’z’ +

wx’y’z
• Combine first two and last two terms to yield
f1(w,x,y,z) = w’x’y’(z’ + z) + wx’y’(z’ + z)
= w’x’y’ + wx’y’
• Combine this expression in turn to yield
f1(w,x,y,z) = x’y’(w’ + w)
= x’y’
• Similar result can be obtained by initially combining the first and third and
the second and fourth terms

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Tabulation Procedure (Contd.)

Two k-variable terms can be combined into a single (k-1)-variable term if
and only if they have k-1 identical literals in common and differ in
only one literal
• Using the binary representation of minterms: two minterms can be
combined if their binary representations differ in only one position

Example: w’x’y’z (0001) and wx’y’z (1001) can be combined into -001,
indicating w has been absorbed and the combined term is x’y’z

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Tabulation Procedure (Contd.)
Procedure:
1. Arrange all minterms in groups, with all terms in the same group having
the same number of 1’s. Start with the least number of 1’s (called the
index) and continue with groups of increasing numbers of 1’s.
2. Compare every term of the lowest-index group with each term in the
successive group. Whenever possible, combine them using the
combining theorem. Repeat by comparing each term in a group of index
i with every term in the group of index i + 1. Place a check mark next to
every term which has been combined with at least one term.
3. Compare the terms generated in step 2 in the same fashion: generate a
new term by combining two terms that differ by only a single 1 and
whose dashes are in the same position. Continue until no further
combinations are possible. The remaining unchecked terms constitute
the set of prime implicants.

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Example
Example: apply procedure to f2(w,x,y,z) = (0,1,2,5,7,8,9,10,13,15)
Step (i) Step (ii) Step (iii)
w x y z w x y z w x y z
0 0 0 0 0 0,1 0 0 0 -- 0,1,8,9 -- 0 0 -- A
1 0 0 0 1 0,2 0 0 -- 0 0,2,8,10 -- 0 -- 0 B
2 0 0 1 0 0,8 -- 0 0 0 1,5,9,13 -- -- 0 1 C
8 1 0 0 0 1,5 0 -- 0 1 5,7,13,15 -- 1 -- 1 D
5 0 1 0 1 1,9 -- 0 0 1
9 1 0 0 1 2,10 -- 0 1 0
10 1 0 1 0 8,9 1 0 0 --
7 0 1 1 1 8,10 1 0 -- 0
13 1 1 0 1 5,7 0 1 -- 1
15 1 1 1 1 5,13 -- 1 0 1
9,13 1 -- 0 1
7,15 -- 1 1 1
13,15 1 1 -- 1

P = {x’y’, x’z’, y’z, xz}

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Tabulation Procedure using Decimal
Notation in the Presence of Don’t-cares
Example: apply procedure to f3(v,w,x,y,z) = (13,15,17,18,19,20,21,23,25,
27,29,31) +  (1,2,12,24)
1 1,17 (16) H 17,19,21,23 (2,4)
2 2,18 (16) G 17,19,25,27 (2,8)
12 12,13 (1) F 17,21,25,29 (4,8)
17 17,19 (2) 13,15,29,31 (2,16) B
18 17,21 (4) 19,23,27,31 (4,8)
20 17,25 (8) 21,23,29,31 (2,8)
24 18,19 (1) E 25,27,29,31 (2,4)
13 20,21 (1) D (c)
19 24,25 (1) C
21 13,15 (2) 17,19,21,23,25,27,29,31 (2,4,8) A
25 13,29 (16) (d)
15 19,23 (4)
23 19,27 (8)
27 21,23 (2)
29 21,29 (8)
31 25,27 (2)
(a) 25,29 (4)
15,31 (16)
23,31 (8)
27,31 (4)
29,31 (2)
(b)
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P = {vz, wxz, vwx’y’, vw’xy’, vw’x’y, v’wxy’, w’x’yz’, w’x’y’z’}

Prime Implicant Chart

Prime implicant chart: pictorially displays covering relationships between
prime implicants and minterms
Example: prime implicant chart for f2(w,x,y,z) = (0,1,2,5,7,8,9,10,13,15)

Cover: a row is said to cover the columns in which it has x’s

Problem: select a minimal subset of prime implicants such that each
column contains at least one x in the rows corresponding to the
selected subset and the total number of literals in the prime
implicants selected is as small as possible
Essential rows: if a column contains a single x, the prime implicant
corresponding to the row in which the x appears is essential, e.g.,
B, D
Cover remaining minterms 1 and 9 using A or C: thus, two minimal
expressions: f2 = x’z’ + xz + x’y’ or f2 = x’z’ + xz + y’z 24

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Don’t-care Combinations
Don’t-cares: not listed as column headings in the prime implicant chart

Example: f3(v,w,x,y,z) = (13,15,17,18,19,20,21,23,25,27,29,31) +

 (1,2,12,24)
13 15 17 18 19 20 21 23 25 27 29 31
A = vz
B = wxz
C = vwx y
D = vw xy
E = vw x y
F = v wxy
G = w x yz
H=wxyz

Selection of nonessential prime implicants facilitated by listing prime

implicants in decreasing order of the number of minterms they
cover
Essential prime implicants: A, B, and D. They cover all minterms except
18, which can be covered by E or G, giving rise to two minimal
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expressions

Determining the Set of All Irredundant

Expressions
Deriving the minimal sum-of-products through prime implicant chart
inspection: difficult for more complex cases

Example: f4(v,w,x,y,z) = (0,1,3,4,7,13,15,19,20,22,23,29,31)

0 1 3 4 7 13 15 19 20 22 23 29 31
A = wxz
B = xyz
C = w yz 0 1 4 20 22
D = vw xy D
E = vw xz E
F = w xy z F
G=vwxz G
H=vwyz H
I=vwxy I

(a) Prime implicant chart. (b) Reduced prime implicant chart.

While every irredundant expression must contain A and C, none of them

may contain B since it covers minterms already covered by A and C. The
reduced chart, obtained after removing A, B, and C, has two x’s in each
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column

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Example (Contd.)
Use propositional calculus: define prime implicant function p to be 1 if each
column is covered by at least one of the chosen prime implicants,
and 0 if not
p = (H + I)(G + I)(F + H)(E + F)(D + E)
= EHI + EFI + DFI + EGH + DFGH

At least three rows are needed to cover the reduced chart: E, H, and I, or
E, F, and I, and so on

Since all prime implicants in the reduced chart have the same literal count,
there are four minimal sum-of-products:
f4(v,w,x,y,z) = A + B + E + H + I = wxz + w’yz + vw’xz’ + v’w’y’z’ + v’w’x’y’
f4(v,w,x,y,z) = A + B + E + F + I = wxz + w’yz + vw’xz’ + w’xy’z’ + v’w’x’y’
f4(v,w,x,y,z) = A + B + D + F + I = wxz + w’yz + vw’xy + w’xy’z’ + v’w’x’y’
f4(v,w,x,y,z) = A + B + E + G + H = wxz + w’yz + vw’xz’ + v’w’x’z + v’w’y’z’
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Reduction of the Chart

Aim: find just one minimal expression rather than all such expressions

Example: f5(v,w,x,y,z) =
(1,3,4,5,6,7,10,11,12,13,14,15,18,19,20,21,22,23,25,26,27)

28

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Example (Contd.)

Dominated row: row U of the chart dominates row V if U covers every

column covered by V. If U does not have more literals than V then V
can be deleted from the chart.

Example: I, D, and F can be deleted because they are dominated by G, C,

and E, respectively

From the final chart: f5(v,w,x,y,z) = A + B + J + K + C + E

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Dominating Column
10 11 18 19 26
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

(b) Reduced prime implicant chart.

Dominating column: column i of the chart dominates column j if i has an x

in every row in which j has an x. Hence, dominating column i can be
deleted.

Example: column 11 dominates column 10. In order to cover column 10,

either E or F must be selected, whereby column 11 will also
automatically be covered. Similarly, since column 19 covers column 18,
column 19 can be deleted.

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Final solution is still: f5(v,w,x,y,z) = A + B + J + K + C + E

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Branching Method
When chart has no essential prime implicant, dominated row or dominating
column: use branching method

Example: f6(w,x,y,z) = (0,1,5,7,8,10,14,15)

5 7 8 10 14 15 1 5 7 10 14 15
B A
C B
D C
E D
F E
G F
H G

(c) Reduced chart after (d) Reduced chart after

selection of row A. selection of row H.

To cover column 0: either A or H has to be selected

If A is arbitrarily chosen: C (G) dominates B (H): f6(w,x,y,z) = A+C+G+E
If H is arbitrarily chosen: B (F) dominates A (G): f6(w,x,y,z) = H+B+D+F
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Map-entered Variables
Map-entered variables: entering variables into the map cells in addition to
0, 1 or don’t-care. An n-variable map can now specify functions
of more than n variables

Product corresponding to cell 010: Ax’yz’

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Procedure for Covering Map-entered
Variables
Procedure:
1. Treat all map-entered variables as 0’s and find a minimal expression for
the resulting map
2. To cover a map-entered variable, treat all other map-entered variables
as 0’s and treat all 1’s as don’t-cares. Find a minimal cover for the
resulting map.
3. Repeat step 2 for each map-entered variable (a variable and its
complement are treated as distinct variables.

f = yz + Ay + Bx’z + B’xz + Cxy’z’

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Heuristic Two-level Minimization

Problems with the prime implicant chart method:
• For an n-variable function, the number of prime implicants can be as
large as 3n/n
• Prime implicant chart covering can itself be very time-consuming

Heuristic minimization: reduces the number of prime implicants that need

to be tackled

ESPRESSO: expand, reduce and irredundant steps

Expand: expands implicants into prime implicants. Any implicants covered
by the expanded prime implicant omitted from further consideration
Reduce: transforms prime implicants into implicants of least possible size
such that all minterms of the function are still covered. This may lead
to better solutions later
Irredundant: chooses a minimal subset of prime implicants obtained so far
such that the subset covers all minterms of the function. Similar to
prime implicant chart covering, however, less time-consuming due to
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fewer prime implicants

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Minimization Example
Direction and order of expanding the implicant: has a bearing on the
quality of the result

Example: consider circled implicant x’y’z’

Expansion in the y direction first: prime implicant x’z’

Expansion in the x direction first, then the z direction: x’y’z’ -> y’z’ -> y’
Expansion in the z direction first, then the x direction: x’y’z’ -> x’y’ -> y’

Heuristics for finding good expansion direction and order included in

ESPRESSO
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Example
Since implicants obtained after the reduce step need not be prime, it is
followed by expand and irredundant steps to derive another, possibly
superior covering:
• Process continued until no longer possible to improve on the best
solution seen so far
• To save time, essential prime implicants can be identified and set aside
so that they are not subjected to further transformation
Example: consider an initial cover of f obtained by applying expand and
irredundant to the initial set of minterms. After the set of
transformations, a superior minimal sum-of-products is obtained.

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18
Equivalent Transformations Using
Encoded Truth Tables

37

Multi-output Two-level Circuit

Minimization
Trivial way to optimize an n-output circuit: minimize each circuit output
separately

Example: Consider f1 and f2. Since all four prime implicants are essential,
the two-level circuit can be obtained as shown
xy xy
z 00 01 11 10 z 00 01 11 10

0 1 1 0 1

1 1 1 1 1

(a) f1 = xy + yz . (b) f2 = x y + x z .

x
y
f1
y
z

x
y
f2
x
z 38

(c) Two-level implementation.

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Multi-output Two-level Circuit
Minimization (Contd.)
Separate minimization of outputs quite sub-optimal: it does not allow
sharing of logic among outputs

Multi-output prime implicant:

• Consider two functions f1 and f2. Their multi-output prime implicants are
the prime implicants of f1, f2 and f1f2.
• For three functions, f1, f2, and f3, the multi-output prime implicants are
those of f1, f2, f3, f1f2, f1f3, f2f3, and f1f2f3.
• Similarly, for n outputs, the number of functions to be considered is 2n-1.

Scenario - prime implicant of f1 is also a prime implicant of f1f2: then

consider this prime implicant for only f1f2, not for f1. This enables
the sharing of the prime implicant among more outputs.

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Augmented Prime Implicant Chart

Augmented chart: has rows corresponding to each of the 2n-1 functions
that has at least one prime implicant that deserves further
consideration and columns corresponding to the minterms of the
function
• To minimize the number of gates – usual steps: identify essential prime
implicants, remove dominated rows and dominating columns, using
branch-and-bound or prime implicant function when necessary
• If secondary objective is to minimize the number of interconnects:
removing dominated rows is not allowed since this sometimes eliminates
the solution with fewer interconnects

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20
 Augmented Chart Example
Example: Consider f1 and f2
• Since none of the prime implicants of f1 and f2 are also a prime implicant
of f1f2, all five prime implicants deserve further consideration
• Since dominated rows cannot be eliminated, we use prime implicant
function p on the reduced chart
p = (B+E)(C+E) = BC + E
• This leads to the multi-output implementation
xy xy xy
z 00 01 11 10 z 00 01 11 10 z 00 01 11 10

0 1 1 0 1 0 1

1 1 1 1 1 1

x
(a) f1. (b) f2. (c) f1f2. y
f1
x
f1 f2
Prime y
Function implicant 2 6 7 1 2 3 z
Prime f1 f2 f2
A = xy Function implicant 2 2 x
f1
B = yz z
f1 B = yz
C=xy
f2
D=xz f2 C=xy
f1f2 E = x yz f1f2 E = x yz

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(d) Augmented prime implicant chart. (e) Reduced chart.

Equivalent Transformations Using

Encoded Truth Tables

42

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