Chapter2: Boolean Algebra and Logic

Gates
Lecture3- Canonical Forms
Engr. Arshad Nazir, Asst Prof
Dept of Electrical Engineering
Fall 2023 SEECS 1
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 Objectives
• Study Canonical Forms
• Standard and non-standard Forms
• Conversion of Canonical Forms

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 Canonical Forms
• A canonical form is a standard method for representing Boolean
functions.
• The two canonical forms that are used are:
➢ Sum of Minterms
➢ Product of Maxterms
• These forms are sometimes considered the “brute force” method of
representing functions as they seldom represent a function in a
minimized form.
• Examples of these two forms are:
F1 = xyz′+xy′z+x′y′z′
F2 = (x+y+z′)(x+y′+z)(x′+y′+z′)

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 Minterms
• Any given binary variable can be represented in two forms:
➢ x, its normal form, and
➢ X′, its complement
• If we consider two binary variables and the AND operation, there are
four combinations of the variables:
➢ xy
➢ Xy′
➢ X′y
➢ X′y′
• Each of the above four AND terms is called a minterm or a standard
product.
• n variables can be combined to form 2n minterms.

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Minterms Expressed

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Maxterms Expressed

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Truth Table to Expression (Sum of Minterms)
• Any Boolean function can be expressed as a sum of minterms or sum of
products (i.e. the ORing of terms).
➢ You can form the function algebraically by forming a minterm for each
combination of the variables that produces a 1 in the function. (Each
row with output of 1 becomes a product term) x y z G
➢ Sum (OR) product terms together. 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0
0 1 1 1
1 0 0 0
1 0 1 0
1 1 0 1
1 1 1 1

xyz + xyz′ + x′yz

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Minterms and Maxterms Expressed

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Sum of Minterms Example

F1 = xˊyˊzˊ + xˊyz + xyˊzˊ

= m0+m3+m4
= ∑(0,3,4)
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Equivalent Representations of Circuits
• All three formats are equivalent
• Number of 1’s in truth table output column equals AND terms for
Sum-of-Products (SOP)

x y z G
0 0 0 0
x
0 0 1 0 x
x
0 1 0 0 x
G
0 1 1 1 x
x
1 0 0 0 x
x
1 0 1 0 x
1 1 0 1
1 1 1 1
x y z
G = xyz + xyz′ + x′yz
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Truth Table to Expression (Product of
Maxterms)
• Any Boolean function can be expressed as a product of maxterms or
product of sums (i.e. the ANDing of terms).
➢ You can form the function algebraically by forming a maxterm for
each combination of the variables that produces a 0 in the function.
(Each row with output of 0 becomes a standard sums)
➢ AND these maxterms together.

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Product of Maxterms Example

F1 = (x + y + z’)(x + y’ + z)(x’ + y + z’)(x’ + y’ + z)(x’ + y’ + z’)

= M1M2M5M6M7
= π(1,2, 5, 6, 7)
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 Minterms and Maxterms
• Each variable in a Boolean expression is a literal
• Boolean variables can appear in normal (x) or complement form (x’)
• Each AND combination of terms is a minterm
• Each OR combination of terms is a maxterm
• Example:
Minterms Maxterms

x y z Minterm x y z Maxterm
0 0 0 x’y’z’ m0 0 0 0 x+y+z M0
0 0 1 x’y’z m1 0 0 1 x+y+z’ M1
… …
1 0 0 xy’z’ m4 1 0 0 x’+y+z M4
… …
1 1 1 xyz m7 1 1 1 x’+y’+z’ M7
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Obtaining Sum of Minterms Form

F = AˊBˊCˊ + AˊBˊC + AˊBCˊ + AˊBC + ABˊCˊ + ABˊC+ ABC

= m 0 + m 1 + m 2 + m 3 + m4 + m 5 + m 7
F(A, B, C) = ∑(0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)

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 Obtaining Product of Maxterms

F = (A+B+C)(Aˊ+B+C)(Aˊ+Bˊ+C)(Aˊ+Bˊ+Cˊ)
= M0 . M4 . M6 . M7
F(A, B, C) = π(0, 4, 6, 7)
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 Canonical Form Conversion
• A function represented as Sum of minterms can be represented as the
Product of maxterms of the remaining terms.
• The complement of a function expressed in sum of minterms equals the
sum of minterms missing from the original function
➢ F(A, B, C) = ∑(0, 3,4) = m0+m3+m4
➢ Fˊ(A, B, C) = ∑(1,2,5,6,7)= m1+m2+m5+m6+m7
• Now if we take the complement of F’ using DeMorgan’s theorem, we
obtain F in the product of maxterms form:
o (Fˊ)ˊ = (m1+m2+m5+m6+m7)ˊ
o F = m1ˊ . m2ˊ . m5ˊ . m6ˊ . m7ˊ [Complement of minterms]
o = M1M2M5M6M7 [maxterms]
o = π(1,2, 5, 6, 7)
• This implies the following relation:
miˊ = Mj
• So sum of minterms: ∑(0,3,4) = product of maxterms: π(1,2, 5, 6, 7)
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 Table A: Conversion of Forms
Desired Form

Minterm Maxterm Minterm Maxterm

Expansion of F Expansion of F Expansion of F′ Expansion of F′
Given Form

Minterm - maxterm nos are List minterms not Maxterm nos

Expansion of F those nos, not present in F are same as
on the minterm minterm nos of
list of F F

Maxterm minterm nos are - minterm nos are List maxterms

Expansion of F those nos, not on same as maxterm not present in F
the maxterm list nos of F
of F

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 Table B: Application of Table A
Desired Form

Minterm Maxterm Minterm Maxterm

Expansion of F Expansion of F Expansion of F′ Expansion of F′
Given Form

F=∑(3,4,5,6,7) - F=π(0,1,2) ∑(0,1,2) π(3,4,5,6,7)

F=π(0,1,2) ∑(3,4,5,6,7) - ∑(0,1,2) π(3,4,5,6,7)

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 Standard Forms
• Standard forms are those forms that allow the terms forming the
function to consist of any number of the variables.
• There are two standard forms:
– sum of products (SOP)
– product of sums (POS)
• Examples of these two forms are:
F=xy′+x′yz SOP
G=(X+Y′)(X′+Y+Z) POS

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 Sum of Products
• The Sum of Products (SOP) is a Boolean expression containing AND
terms, called product terms, of one or more literals each.
– F1 = y′ + xy + x′yz′

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 Product of Sums
• The Product of Sums (POS) is a Boolean expression containing OR
terms, called sum terms, of one or more literals each.
➢ F2 = x(y′ + z)(x′ + y + z′)

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 Two Level Implementations
• The standard type of expression results in a two-level gating
structure

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 Conversion from Nonstandard to
Standard Form
• A Boolean function may be expressed in a nonstandard form (fig 2.4a shows a
function that is neither in sum of products nor in product of sums). It has three levels
of gating
• It can be converted to a standard form (Sum of product) by using distributive law to
remove parenthesis
• Two-level implementation is preferred as it produces the least amount of delay

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The End

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