Digital Logic Design

EEE211
Lecture 5

Dr Atiqur Rahman
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
North South University
 Canonical Forms
• It is useful to specify Boolean functions in a
form that:
– Allows comparison for equality.
– Has a correspondence to the truth tables
• Canonical Forms in common usage:
– Sum of Minterms (SOM)
– Product of Maxterms (POM)
 Minterms
• Minterms are AND terms with every variable
present in either true or complemented form.
• Given that each binary variable may appear normal
(e.g., x) or complemented (e.g.,x ), there are 2n
minterms for n variables.
• Example: Two variables (X and Y) produce
2 x 2 = 4 combinations:
XY (both normal)
XY (X normal, Y complemented)
XY (X complemented, Y normal)
XY (both complemented)
• Thus there are four minterms of two variables.
 Maxterms
• Maxterms are OR terms with every variable in
true or complemented form.
• Given that each binary variable may appear
normal (e.g., x) or complemented (e.g., x), there
are 2n maxterms for n variables.
• Example: Two variables (X and Y) produce
2 x 2 = 4 combinations:
X + Y (both normal)
X + Y (x normal, y complemented)
X + Y (x complemented, y normal)
X + Y (both complemented)
 Minterms & Maxterms for 2 variables
• Two variable minterms and maxterms.
x y Index Minterm Maxterm
0 0 0 m0 = x y M0 = x + y
0 1 1 m1 = x y M1 = x + y
1 0 2 m2 = x y M2 = x + y
1 1 3 m3 = x y M3 = x + y
• The minterm mi should evaluate to 1 for each
combination of x and y.
• The maxterm is the complement of the minterm
Minterms & Maxterms for 3 variables
x y z Index Minterm Maxterm
0 0 0 0 m0 = x y z M0 = x + y + z
0 0 1 1 m1 = x y z M1 = x + y + z
0 1 0 2 m2 = x y z M2 = x + y + z
0 1 1 3 m3 = x y z M3 = x + y + z
1 0 0 4 m4 = x y z M4 = x + y + z
1 0 1 5 m5 = x y z M5 = x + y + z
1 1 0 6 m6 = x y z M6 = x + y + z
1 1 1 7 m7 = x y z M7 = x + y + z
Maxterm Mi is the complement of minterm mi
Mi = mi and mi = Mi
 Purpose of the Index
• Minterms and Maxterms are designated with an index
• The index number corresponds to a binary pattern
• The index for the minterm or maxterm, expressed as a
binary number, is used to determine whether the variable
is shown in the true or complemented form
• For Minterms:
– ‘1’ means the variable is “Not Complemented” and
– ‘0’ means the variable is “Complemented”.
• For Maxterms:
– ‘0’ means the variable is “Not Complemented” and
– ‘1’ means the variable is “Complemented”.
 Standard Order
• All variables should be present in a minterm or
maxterm and should be listed in the same order
(usually alphabetically)
• Example: For variables a, b, c:
– Maxterms (a + b + c), (a + b + c) are in standard order
– However, (b + a + c) is NOT in standard order
(a + c) does NOT contain all variables
– Minterms (a b c) and (a b c) are in standard order
– However, (b a c) is not in standard order
(a c) does not contain all variables
 Sum-Of-Minterm (SOM)
• Sum-Of-Minterm (SOM) canonical form:
Sum of minterms of entries that evaluate to ‘1’
x y z F Minterm
0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 m1 = x y z
0 1 0 0 Focus on the
0 1 1 0 ‘1’ entries
1 0 0 0
1 0 1 0
1 1 0 1 m6 = x y z
1 1 1 1 m7 = x y z

F = m1 + m6 + m7 = ∑ (1, 6, 7) = x y z + x y z + x y z
 Sum-Of-Minterm Examples

• F(a, b, c, d) = ∑(2, 3, 6, 10, 11)

• F(a, b, c, d) = m2 + m3 + m6 + m10 + m11
abcd+abcd+abcd+abcd+abcd
• G(a, b, c, d) = ∑(0, 1, 12, 15)
• G(a, b, c, d) = m0 + m1 + m12 + m15
abcd+abcd+abcd+abcd
 Product-Of-Maxterm (POM)
• Product-Of-Maxterm (POM) canonical form:
Product of maxterms of entries that evaluate to ‘0’
x y z F Maxterm
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 1
0 1 0 0 M2 = (x + y + z) Focus on the
0 1 1 1 ‘0’ entries
1 0 0 0 M4 = (x + y + z)
1 0 1 1
1 1 0 0 M6 = (x + y + z)
1 1 1 1

F = M2·M4·M6 = ∏ (2, 4, 6) = (x+y+z) (x+y+z) (x+y+z)

 Product-Of-Maxterm Examples

• F(a, b, c, d) = ∏(1, 3, 6, 11)

• F(a, b, c, d) = M1 · M3 · M6 · M11
(a+b+c+d) (a+b+c+d) (a+b+c+d) (a+b+c+d)
• G(a, b, c, d) = ∏(0, 4, 12, 15)
• G(a, b, c, d) = M0 · M4 · M12 · M15
(a+b+c+d) (a+b+c+d) (a+b+c+d) (a+b+c+d)
 Observations
• We can implement any function by "ORing" the minterms
corresponding to the ‘1’ entries in the function table. A minterm
evaluates to ‘1’ for its corresponding entry.
• We can implement any function by "ANDing" the maxterms
corresponding to ‘0’ entries in the function table. A maxterm
evaluates to ‘0’ for its corresponding entry.
• The same Boolean function can be expressed in two canonical
ways: Sum-of-Minterms (SOM) and Product-of-Maxterms (POM).
• If a Boolean function has fewer ‘1’ entries then the SOM canonical
form will contain fewer literals than POM. However, if it has fewer
‘0’ entries then the POM form will have fewer literals than SOM.
 Converting to Sum-of-Minterms Form
• A function that is not in the Sum-of-Minterms form
can be converted to that form by means of a truth table
• Consider F = y + x z
x y z F Minterm F = ∑(0, 1, 2, 4, 5) =
0 0 0 1 m0 = x y z
0 0 1 1 m1 = x y z m0 + m1 + m2 + m4 + m5 =
0 1 0 1 m2 = x y z
0 1 1 0
xyz+xyz+xyz+
1 0 0 1 m4 = x y z xyz+xyz
1 0 1 1 m5 = x y z
1 1 0 0
1 1 1 0
Converting to Product-of-Maxterms Form
• A function that is not in the Product-of-Minterms form
can be converted to that form by means of a truth table
• Consider again: F = y + x z
x y z F Maxterm F = ∏(3, 6, 7) =
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 1
M3 · M6 · M7 =
0 1 0 1 (x+y+z) (x+y+z) (x+y+z)
0 1 1 0 M3 = (x+y+z)
1 0 0 1
1 0 1 1
1 1 0 0 M6 = (x+y+z)
1 1 1 0 M7 = (x+y+z)
Conversions Between Canonical Forms
x y z F Minterm Maxterm
0 0 0 0 M0 = (x + y + z)
0 0 1 1 m1 = x y z
0 1 0 1 m2 = x y z
0 1 1 1 m3 = x y z
1 0 0 0 M4 = (x + y + z)
1 0 1 1 m5 = x y z
1 1 0 0 M6 = (x + y + z)
1 1 1 1 m7 = x y z

F = m1+m2+m3+m5+m7 = ∑(1, 2, 3, 5, 7) =
xyz+xyz+xyz+xyz+xyz
F = M0 · M4 · M6 = ∏(0, 4, 6) = x+y+z)(x+y+z)(x+y+z)
Algebraic Conversion to Sum-of-Minterms

• Expand all terms first to explicitly list all minterms

• AND any term missing a variable v with (v + v)
• Example 1: f = x + x y (2 variables)
f = x (y + y) + x y
f=xy+xy+xy
f = m3 + m2 + m0 = ∑(0, 2, 3)
• Example 2: g = a + b c (3 variables)
g = a (b + b)(c + c) + (a + a) b c
g=abc+abc+abc+abc+abc+abc
g=abc+abc+abc+abc+abc
g = m1 + m4 + m5 + m6 + m7 = ∑ (1, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Algebraic Conversion to Product-of-Maxterms

• Expand all terms first to explicitly list all maxterms

• OR any term missing a variable v with v · v
• Example 1: f = x + x y (2 variables)
Apply 2nd distributive law:
f = (x + x) (x + y) = 1 · (x + y) = (x + y) = M1
• Example 2: g = a c + b c + a b (3 variables)
g = (a c + b c + a) (a c + b c + b) (distributive)
g = (c + b c + a) (a c + c + b) (x + x y = x + y)
g = (c + b + a) (a + c + b) (x + x y = x + y)
g = (a + b + c) (a + b + c) = M5 . M2 = ∏ (2, 5)
 Function Complements
• The complement of a function expressed as a sum of
minterms is constructed by selecting the minterms
missing in the sum-of-minterms canonical form
• Alternatively, the complement of a function expressed
by a Sum of Minterms form is simply the Product of
Maxterms with the same indices
• Example: Given F(x, y, z) = ∑ (1, 3, 5, 7)
F(x, y, z) = ∑ (0, 2, 4, 6)
F(x, y, z) = ∏ (1, 3, 5, 7)
 Summary of Minterms and Maxterms
• There are 2n minterms and maxterms for Boolean
functions with n variables.
• Minterms and maxterms are indexed from 0 to 2n – 1
• Any Boolean function can be expressed as a logical
sum of minterms and as a logical product of maxterms
• The complement of a function contains those minterms
not included in the original function
• The complement of a sum-of-minterms is a product-of-
maxterms with the same indices
 Standard Forms
• Standard Sum-of-Products (SOP) form: equations
are written as an OR of AND terms
• Standard Product-of-Sums (POS) form: equations
are written as an AND of OR terms
• Examples:
– SOP: ABC+ ABC+B
– POS: (A + B) · (A+ B + C )· C
• These “mixed” forms are neither SOP nor POS
– (A B + C) (A + C)
– A B C + A C (A + B)
 Standard Sum-of-Products (SOP)

• A sum of minterms form for n variables can be

written down directly from a truth table.
– Implementation of this form is a two-level network
of gates such that:
– The first level consists of n-input AND gates
– The second level is a single OR gate
• This form often can be simplified so that the
corresponding circuit is simpler.
 Standard Sum-of-Products (SOP)

• A Simplification Example:
F( A, B, C) = S (1,4,5,6,7)
• Writing the minterm expression:
F = A B C + A B C + A B C + ABC + ABC
• Simplifying:
F = A B C + A (B C + B C + B C + B C)
F = A B C + A (B (C + C) + B (C + C))
F = A B C + A (B + B)
F=ABC+A
F=BC+A
• Simplified F contains 3 literals compared to 15
AND/OR Two-Level Implementation
• The two implementations for F are shown below
A
B
C A
A F
B B
C C
A
B F
C It is quite
A apparent which
B
C is simpler!
A
B
C
 SOP and POS Observations
• The previous examples show that:
– Canonical Forms (Sum-of-minterms, Product-of-Maxterms),
or other standard forms (SOP, POS) differ in complexity
– Boolean algebra can be used to manipulate equations into
simpler forms
– Simpler equations lead to simpler implementations
• Questions:
– How can we attain a “simplest” expression?
– Is there only one minimum cost circuit?
– The next part will deal with these issues