Boolean Algebra and

Logic Gates

EE 200
Digital Logic Circuit Design

Dr. Muhamed Mudawar

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
 Presentation Outline

❖ Boolean Algebra

❖ Boolean Functions and Truth Tables

❖ DeMorgan's Theorem

❖ Algebraic manipulation and expression simplification

❖ Logic gates and logic diagrams

❖ Minterms and Maxterms

❖ Sum-Of-Products and Product-Of-Sums

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 2
 Boolean Algebra
❖ Introduced by George Boole in 1854
❖ A set of two values: B = {0, 1}
❖ Three basic operations: AND, OR, and NOT
❖ The AND operator is denoted by a dot (·)
 𝑥 · 𝑦 or 𝑥𝑦 is read: 𝑥 AND 𝑦

❖ The OR operator is denoted by a plus (+)

 𝑥 + 𝑦 is read: 𝑥 OR 𝑦

❖ The NOT operator is denoted by (') or an overbar (¯).

 𝑥′ or 𝑥 is the complement of 𝑥

❖ Today, Boolean algebra is being used to design digital circuits

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 3
 Postulates of Boolean Algebra
1. Closure: the result of any Boolean operation is in B = {0, 1}

2. Identity element with respect to + is 0: 𝑥 + 0 = 0 + 𝑥 = 𝑥

Identity element with respect to · is 1: 𝑥 · 1 = 1 · 𝑥 = 𝑥

3. Commutative with respect to +: 𝑥 + 𝑦 = 𝑦 + 𝑥

Commutative with respect to ·: 𝑥 · 𝑦 = 𝑦 · 𝑥

4. · is distributive over +: 𝑥 · (𝑦 + 𝑧) = (𝑥 · 𝑦) + (𝑥 · 𝑧)

+ is distributive over ·: 𝑥 + (𝑦 · 𝑧) = (𝑥 + 𝑦) · (𝑥 + 𝑧)

5. For every 𝑥 in B, there exists 𝑥′ in B (called complement of 𝑥)

such that: 𝑥 + 𝑥′ = 1 and 𝑥 · 𝑥′ = 0

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 4
 AND, OR, and NOT Operators
❖ The following tables define 𝑥 · 𝑦, 𝑥 + 𝑦, and 𝑥′
❖ 𝑥 · 𝑦 is the AND operator
❖ 𝑥 + 𝑦 is the OR operator
❖ 𝑥′ is the NOT operator

x y x·y x y x+y x x'

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 1 1

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 5
 Boolean Functions
❖ Boolean functions are described by expressions that consist of:
 Boolean variables, such as: 𝑥, 𝑦, etc.
 Boolean constants: 0 and 1
 Boolean operators: AND (·), OR (+), NOT (')
 Parentheses, which can be nested
❖ Example: 𝑓 = 𝑥 𝑦 + 𝑤 ′ 𝑧
 The dot operator is implicit and need not be written
❖ Operator precedence: to avoid ambiguity in expressions
 Expressions within parentheses should be evaluated first
 The NOT (') operator should be evaluated second
 The AND (·) operator should be evaluated third
 The OR (+) operator should be evaluated last
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 6
 Truth Table
❖ A truth table can represent a Boolean function
❖ List all possible combinations of 0's and 1's assigned to variables
❖ If n variables then 2n rows
❖ Example: Truth table for 𝑓 = 𝑥𝑦 ′ + 𝑥 ′ 𝑧
x y z y' xy' x' x'z f = xy'+ x'z
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 7
 DeMorgan's Theorem
❖ (𝑥 + 𝑦)′ = 𝑥′ 𝑦′ Can be verified
❖ (𝑥 𝑦)′ = 𝑥′ + 𝑦′ Using a Truth Table

x y x' y' x+y (x+y)' x'y' x y (x y)' x'+ y'

0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Identical Identical

❖ Generalized DeMorgan's Theorem:

❖ 𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + ⋯ + 𝑥𝑛 ′ = 𝑥1′ ∙ 𝑥2′ ∙ ⋯ ∙ 𝑥𝑛′
❖ 𝑥1 ∙ 𝑥2 ∙ ⋯ ∙ 𝑥𝑛 ′
= 𝑥1′ + 𝑥2′ + ⋯ + 𝑥𝑛′
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 8
 Complementing Boolean Functions
❖ What is the complement of 𝑓 = 𝑥′𝑦𝑧′ + 𝑥𝑦′𝑧′ ?

❖ Use DeMorgan's Theorem:

 Complement each variable and constant

 Interchange AND and OR operators

❖ So, what is the complement of 𝑓 = 𝑥 ′ 𝑦𝑧 ′ + 𝑥𝑦 ′ 𝑧 ′ ?

Answer: 𝑓′ = (𝑥 + 𝑦 ′ + 𝑧)(𝑥 ′ + 𝑦 + 𝑧)

❖ Example 2: Complement 𝑔 = (𝑎′ + 𝑏𝑐)𝑑′ + 𝑒

❖ Answer: 𝑔′ = (𝑎(𝑏′ + 𝑐′) + 𝑑)𝑒′

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 9
 Algebraic Manipulation of Expressions
❖ The objective is to acquire skills in manipulating Boolean
expressions, to transform them into simpler form.
using the Demorgan theorem

❖ Example 1: prove 𝑥 + 𝑥𝑦 = 𝑥 (absorption theorem)

❖ Proof: 𝑥 + 𝑥𝑦 = 𝑥 · 1 + 𝑥𝑦 𝑥·1=𝑥
= 𝑥 · (1 + 𝑦) Distributive · over +
=𝑥·1=𝑥 (1 + 𝑦) = 1

❖ Example 2: prove 𝑥 + 𝑥′𝑦 = 𝑥 + 𝑦 (simplification theorem)

❖ Proof: 𝑥 + 𝑥′𝑦 = (𝑥 + 𝑥′)(𝑥 + 𝑦) Distributive + over ·

= 1 · (𝑥 + 𝑦) (𝑥 + 𝑥′) = 1
=𝑥+𝑦
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 10
 Consensus Theorem
❖ Prove that: 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥′𝑧 + 𝑦𝑧 = 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥′𝑧 (consensus theorem)
❖ Proof: 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥 ′ 𝑧 + 𝑦𝑧
= 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥′𝑧 + 1 · 𝑦𝑧 𝑦𝑧 = 1 · 𝑦𝑧
= 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥′𝑧 + (𝑥 + 𝑥′)𝑦𝑧 1 = (𝑥 + 𝑥′)
= 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥′𝑧 + 𝑥𝑦𝑧 + 𝑥′𝑦𝑧 Distributive · over +
= 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥𝑦𝑧 + 𝑥′𝑧 + 𝑥′𝑦𝑧 Associative commutative +
= 𝑥𝑦 · 1 + 𝑥𝑦𝑧 + 𝑥′𝑧 · 1 + 𝑥′𝑧𝑦 𝑥𝑦 = 𝑥𝑦 · 1, 𝑥 ′ 𝑦𝑧 = 𝑥 ′ 𝑧𝑦
= 𝑥𝑦(1 + 𝑧) + 𝑥′𝑧(1 + 𝑦) Distributive · over +
= 𝑥𝑦 · 1 + 𝑥′𝑧 · 1 1 + 𝑧 = 1, 1 + 𝑦 = 1
= 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥′𝑧 𝑥𝑦 · 1 = 𝑥𝑦, 𝑥′𝑧 · 1 = 𝑥′𝑧
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 11
 Summary of Boolean Algebra
Property Dual Property
Identity 𝑥+0=𝑥 𝑥·1=𝑥
Complement 𝑥 + 𝑥′ = 1 𝑥 · 𝑥′ = 0
Null 𝑥+1=1 𝑥·0=0
Idempotence 𝑥+𝑥 =𝑥 𝑥·𝑥 =𝑥
Involution (𝑥′)′ = 𝑥
Commutative 𝑥+𝑦 = 𝑦+𝑥 𝑥𝑦 = 𝑦𝑥
Associative (𝑥 + 𝑦) + 𝑧 = 𝑥 + (𝑦 + 𝑧) 𝑥 𝑦 𝑧 = 𝑥 (𝑦 𝑧)
Distributive 𝑥 (𝑦 + 𝑧) = 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥𝑧 𝑥 + 𝑦𝑧 = (𝑥 + 𝑦)(𝑥 + 𝑧)
Absorption 𝑥 + 𝑥𝑦 = 𝑥 𝑥(𝑥 + 𝑦) = 𝑥
Simplification 𝑥 + 𝑥 ′𝑦 = 𝑥 + 𝑦 𝑥(𝑥′ + 𝑦) = 𝑥𝑦
De Morgan (𝑥 + 𝑦)′ = 𝑥′ 𝑦′ 𝑥𝑦 ′ = 𝑥 ′ + 𝑦′
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 12
 Duality Principle
❖ The dual of a Boolean expression can be obtained by:
 Interchanging AND (·) and OR (+) operators
 Interchanging 0's and 1's

❖ Example: the dual of 𝑥(𝑦 + 𝑧′) is 𝑥 + 𝑦𝑧′

 The complement operator does not change

❖ The properties of Boolean algebra appear in dual pairs

 If a property is proven to be true then its dual is also true

Property Dual Property

Identity 𝑥+0=𝑥 𝑥·1=𝑥
Complement 𝑥 + 𝑥′ = 1 𝑥 · 𝑥′ = 0
Distributive 𝑥 (𝑦 + 𝑧) = 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑥𝑧 𝑥 + 𝑦𝑧 = (𝑥 + 𝑦)(𝑥 + 𝑧)
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 13
 Expression Simplification
❖ Using Boolean algebra to simplify expressions
❖ Expression should contain the smallest number of literals
❖ A literal is a variable that may or may not be complemented
❖ Example: simplify 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑎′𝑐𝑑 + 𝑎′𝑏𝑑 + 𝑎′𝑐𝑑′ + 𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑
❖ Solution: 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑎′𝑐𝑑 + 𝑎′𝑏𝑑 + 𝑎′𝑐𝑑′ + 𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑 (15 literals)
= 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑 + 𝑎′𝑐𝑑 + 𝑎′𝑐𝑑′ + 𝑎′𝑏𝑑 (15 literals)
= 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑎𝑏(𝑐𝑑) + 𝑎′𝑐(𝑑 + 𝑑′) + 𝑎′𝑏𝑑 (13 literals)
= 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑎′𝑐 + 𝑎′𝑏𝑑 (7 literals)
= 𝑏𝑎 + 𝑏𝑎′𝑑 + 𝑎′𝑐 (7 literals)
= 𝑏(𝑎 + 𝑎′𝑑) + 𝑎′𝑐 (6 literals)
= 𝑏(𝑎 + 𝑑) + 𝑎′𝑐 (5 literals only)
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 14
 Importance of Boolean Algebra
❖ Our objective is to learn how to design digital circuits

❖ These circuits use signals with two possible values

❖ Logic 0 is a low voltage signal (around 0 volts)

❖ Logic 1 is a high voltage signal (e.g. 5 or 3.3 volts)

❖ The physical value of a signal is the actual voltage it carries,

while its logic value is either 0 (low) or 1 (high)

❖ Having only two logic values (0 and 1) simplifies the

implementation of the digital circuit

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 15
 Next . . .

❖ Boolean Algebra

❖ Boolean Functions and Truth Tables

❖ DeMorgan's Theorem

❖ Algebraic manipulation and expression simplification

❖ Logic gates and logic diagrams

❖ Minterms and Maxterms

❖ Sum-Of-Products and Product-Of-Sums

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 16
 Logic Gates and Symbols
𝑥 𝑥
𝑥·𝑦 𝑥+𝑦 𝑥 𝑥′
𝑦 𝑦
AND gate OR gate NOT gate (inverter)
𝑥
𝑥 𝑦 𝑥′
𝑦

AND: Switches in series OR: Switches in parallel NOT: Switch is normally

logic 0 is open switch logic 0 is open switch closed when x is 0

❖ In the earliest computers, relays were used as mechanical

switches controlled by electricity (coils)
❖ Today, tiny transistors are used as electronic switches that
implement the logic gates (CMOS technology)
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 17
 Truth Table and Logic Diagram
❖ Given the following logic function: 𝑓 = 𝑥(𝑦′ + 𝑧)
❖ Draw the corresponding truth table and logic diagram

Truth Table Logic Diagram

x y z y'+ z f = x(y'+ z) 𝑥
𝑓 = 𝑥(𝑦 ′ + 𝑧)
0 0 0 1 0
𝑦
0 0 1 1 0
𝑧
0 1 0 0 0
0 1 1 1 0 Truth Table and Logic Diagram
1 0 0 1 1 describe the same function 𝑓.
Truth table is unique, but logic
1 0 1 1 1
expression and logic diagram
1 1 0 0 0 are not. This gives flexibility in
1 1 1 1 1 implementing logic functions.
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 18
 Combinational Circuit
❖ A combinational circuit is a block of logic gates having:

𝑛 inputs: 𝑥1, 𝑥2, … , 𝑥𝑛

𝑚 outputs: 𝑓1, 𝑓2, … , 𝑓𝑚

❖ Each output is a function of the input variables

❖ Each output is determined from present combination of inputs

❖ Combination circuit performs operation specified by logic gates

Combinational
𝑛 inputs 𝑚 outputs



Circuit

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 19
 Example of a Simple Combinational Circuit
𝑥
𝑦 𝑓

❖ The above circuit has:

 Three inputs: 𝑥, 𝑦, and 𝑧
 Two outputs: 𝑓 and 𝑔

❖ What are the logic expressions of 𝑓 and 𝑔 ?

❖ Answer: 𝑓 = 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑧′
𝑔 = 𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦𝑧
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 20
 From Truth Tables to Gate Implementation
❖ Given the truth table of a Boolean function 𝑓, how do we
implement the truth table using logic gates?

Truth Table
x y z f
0 0 0 0
What is the logic expression of 𝑓?
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 1
0 1 1 1 What is the gate implementation of 𝑓?
1 0 0 0
1 0 1 1 To answer these questions, we need
1 1 0 0
to define Minterms and Maxterms
1 1 1 1

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 21
 Minterms and Maxterms
❖ Minterms are AND terms with every variable present in either
true or complement form
❖ Maxterms are OR terms with every variable present in either
true or complement form
Minterms and Maxterms for 2 variables 𝑥 and 𝑦
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 = 𝑥𝑦′ 𝑀2 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦
1 1 3 𝑚3 = 𝑥𝑦 𝑀3 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦′

❖ For n variables, there are 2n Minterms and Maxterms

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 22
 Minterms and 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′𝑦𝑧′ 𝑀2 = 𝑥 + 𝑦′ + 𝑧
0 1 1 3 𝑚3 = 𝑥′𝑦𝑧 𝑀3 = 𝑥 + 𝑦 ′ + 𝑧′
1 0 0 4 𝑚4 = 𝑥𝑦 ′ 𝑧′ 𝑀4 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦 + 𝑧
1 0 1 5 𝑚5 = 𝑥𝑦 ′ 𝑧 𝑀5 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦 + 𝑧′
1 1 0 6 𝑚6 = 𝑥𝑦𝑧′ 𝑀6 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦′ + 𝑧
1 1 1 7 𝑚7 = 𝑥𝑦𝑧 𝑀7 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦 ′ + 𝑧′

Maxterm 𝑀𝑖 is the complement of Minterm 𝑚𝑖

𝑀𝑖 = 𝑚𝑖′ and 𝑚𝑖 = 𝑀𝑖′

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 23
 Purpose of the Index
❖ Minterms and Maxterms are designated with an index

❖ 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

 ‘0’ means the variable is Complemented

❖ For Maxterms:
 ‘0’ means the variable is Not Complemented

 ‘1’ means the variable is Complemented

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 24
 Sum-Of-Minterms (SOM) Canonical Form
Truth Table
x y z f Minterm
Sum of Minterm entries
0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0
that evaluate to ‘1’
0 1 0 1 𝑚2 = 𝑥′𝑦𝑧′
Focus on the ‘1’ entries
0 1 1 1 𝑚3 = 𝑥′𝑦𝑧
1 0 0 0
𝑓 = 𝑚2 + 𝑚3 + 𝑚5 + 𝑚7
1 0 1 1 𝑚5 = 𝑥𝑦′𝑧
1 1 0 0
𝑓 = ෍ 2, 3, 5, 7
1 1 1 1 𝑚7 = 𝑥𝑦𝑧

𝑓 = 𝑥 ′ 𝑦𝑧 ′ + 𝑥 ′ 𝑦𝑧 + 𝑥𝑦 ′ 𝑧 + 𝑥𝑦𝑧
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 25
 Examples of Sum-Of-Minterms

❖ 𝑓 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 = σ(2, 3, 6, 10, 11)

❖ 𝑓 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 = 𝑚2 + 𝑚3 + 𝑚6 + 𝑚10 + 𝑚11

❖ 𝑓 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 = 𝑎′ 𝑏 ′ 𝑐𝑑′ + 𝑎′ 𝑏 ′ 𝑐𝑑 + 𝑎′𝑏𝑐𝑑′ + 𝑎𝑏′𝑐𝑑′ + 𝑎𝑏′𝑐𝑑

❖ 𝑔 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 = σ(0, 1, 12, 15)

❖ 𝑔 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 = 𝑚0 + 𝑚1 + 𝑚12 + 𝑚15

❖ 𝑔 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 = 𝑎′ 𝑏 ′ 𝑐′𝑑′ + 𝑎′ 𝑏 ′ 𝑐′𝑑 + 𝑎𝑏𝑐′𝑑′ + 𝑎𝑏𝑐𝑑

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 26
 Product-Of-Maxterms (POM) Canonical Form
Truth Table
x y z f Maxterm
Product of Maxterm entries
0 0 0 0 𝑀0 = 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧
0 0 1 0 𝑀1 = 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧′
that evaluate to ‘0’
0 1 0 1
Focus on the ‘0’ entries
0 1 1 1
1 0 0 0 𝑀4 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦 + 𝑧
𝑓 = 𝑀0 · 𝑀1 · 𝑀4 · 𝑀6
1 0 1 1
1 1 0 0 𝑀6 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦′ + 𝑧
𝑓 = ෑ 0, 1, 4, 6
1 1 1 1

𝑓 = (𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧)(𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 ′ )(𝑥 ′ + 𝑦 + 𝑧)(𝑥 ′ + 𝑦 ′ + 𝑧)

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 27
 Examples of Product-Of-Maxterms

❖ 𝑓 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 = ς(1, 3, 11)

❖ 𝑓(𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑) = 𝑀1 ∙ 𝑀3 ∙ 𝑀11

❖ 𝑓(𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑) = 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 + 𝑑′ 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 ′ + 𝑑′ (𝑎′ + 𝑏 + 𝑐 ′ + 𝑑′ )

❖ 𝑔 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑 = ς(0, 5, 13)

❖ 𝑔(𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑) = 𝑀0 ∙ 𝑀5 ∙ 𝑀13

❖ 𝑓(𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑) = 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 + 𝑑 𝑎 + 𝑏 ′ + 𝑐 + 𝑑′ (𝑎′ + 𝑏′ + 𝑐 + 𝑑′ )

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 28
 Conversions between Canonical Forms
❖ The same Boolean function 𝑓 can be expressed in two ways:
 Sum-of-Minterms 𝑓 = 𝑚0 + 𝑚2 + 𝑚3 + 𝑚5 + 𝑚7 = σ(0, 2, 3, 5, 7)
 Product-of-Maxterms 𝑓 = 𝑀1 ∙ 𝑀4 ∙ 𝑀6 = ς(1, 4, 6)

Truth Table
x y z f Minterms Maxterms
0 0 0 1 𝑚0 = 𝑥 ′ 𝑦′𝑧′
0 0 1 0 𝑀1 = 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧′ To convert from one canonical
0 1 0 1 𝑚2 = 𝑥 ′ 𝑦𝑧′ form to another, interchange
0 1 1 1 𝑚3 = 𝑥 ′ 𝑦𝑧
the symbols  and  and list
1 0 0 0 𝑀4 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦 + 𝑧
those numbers missing from
1 0 1 1 𝑚5 = 𝑥𝑦′𝑧
1 1 0 0 𝑀6 = 𝑥′ + 𝑦′ + 𝑧 the original form.
1 1 1 1 𝑚7 = 𝑥𝑦𝑧
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 29
 Function Complement
Truth Table Given a Boolean function 𝑓

x y z f f' 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = ෍ 0, 2, 3, 5, 7 = ෑ(1, 4, 6)

0 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 1 Then, the complement 𝑓′ of function 𝑓
0 1 0 1 0
𝑓′(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = ෑ 0, 2, 3, 5, 7 = ෍(1, 4, 6)
0 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 0 1
The complement of a function expressed by a
1 0 1 1 0
Sum of Minterms is the Product of Maxterms
1 1 0 0 1
with the same indices. Interchange the symbols
1 1 1 1 0
 and , but keep the same list of indices.

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 30
 Summary of Minterms and Maxterms
❖ There are 2n Minterms and Maxterms for Boolean functions with
n variables, indexed from 0 to 2n – 1

❖ Minterms correspond to the 1-entries of the function

❖ Maxterms correspond to the 0-entries of the function

❖ Any Boolean function can be expressed as a Sum-of-Minterms

and as a Product-of-Maxterms

❖ For a Boolean function, given the list of Minterm indices one can
determine the list of Maxterms indices (and vice versa)

❖ The complement of a Sum-of-Minterms is a Product-of-Maxterms

with the same indices (and vice versa)
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 31
 Sum-of-Products and Products-of-Sums
❖ Canonical forms contain a larger number of literals
 Because the Minterms (and Maxterms) must contain, by definition, all
the variables either complemented or not

❖ Another way to express Boolean functions is in standard form

❖ Two standard forms: Sum-of-Products and Product-of -Sums
❖ Sum of Products (SOP)
 Boolean expression is the ORing (sum) of AND terms (products)
 Examples: 𝑓1 = 𝑥𝑦′ + 𝑥𝑧 𝑓2 = 𝑦 + 𝑥𝑦′𝑧

❖ Products of Sums (POS)

 Boolean expression is the ANDing (product) of OR terms (sums)
 Examples: 𝑓3 = (𝑥 + 𝑧)(𝑥′ + 𝑦′) 𝑓4 = 𝑥(𝑥′ + 𝑦′ + 𝑧)
Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 32
 Two-Level Gate Implementation
𝑓1 = 𝑥𝑦′ + 𝑥𝑧 𝑓2 = 𝑦 + 𝑥𝑦′𝑧
𝑥 𝑦
𝑦′
𝑓1 𝑓2
𝑥
𝑥 𝑦′
𝑧 AND-OR 𝑧 3-input AND gate
implementations

𝑓3 = (𝑥 + 𝑧)(𝑥 ′ + 𝑦 ′ ) 𝑓4 = 𝑥(𝑥 ′ + 𝑦 ′ + 𝑧)
𝑥 𝑥
𝑧
𝑓3 𝑓4
𝑥′
𝑥′ 𝑦′
𝑦′ OR-AND 𝑧 3-input OR gate
implementations

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 33
 Two-Level vs. Three-Level Implementation
❖ ℎ = 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑐𝑑 + 𝑐𝑒 (6 literals) is a sum-of-products
❖ ℎ may also be written as: ℎ = 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑐(𝑑 + 𝑒) (5 literals)
❖ However, ℎ = 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑐(𝑑 + 𝑒) is a non-standard form
 ℎ = 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑐(𝑑 + 𝑒) is not a sum-of-products nor a product-of-sums

2-level implementation 3-level implementation

ℎ = 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑐𝑑 + 𝑐𝑒 ℎ = 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑐(𝑑 + 𝑒)
𝑎
𝑏 𝑎
𝑏
𝑐
𝑑 ℎ 𝑐 ℎ
𝑑
𝑐 𝑒
𝑒 3-input OR gate

Boolean Algebra and Logic Gates EE 200 – Digital Logic Circuit Design © Muhamed Mudawar – slide 34