Digital Logic

Design

Chapter 4
Boolean Algebra and Logic
Simplification

© 2008 Pearson Education

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Boolean Operation and Expression
- Boolean Addition
In Boolean algebra, a variable is a symbol used to represent
an action, a condition, or data. A single variable can only
have a value of 1 or 0.
The complement represents the inverse of a variable and is indicated
with an overbar. Thus, the complement of A is A.

A literal is a variable or its complement.

Addition is equivalent to the OR operation. The sum term is 1 if one or
more if the literals are 1. The sum term is zero only if each literal is 0.
Determine the values of A, B, and C that make the sum term
of the expression A + B + C = 0?

Each literal must = 0; therefore A = 1, B = 0 and C = 1.

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Boolean Multiplication
In Boolean algebra, multiplication is equivalent to the AND
operation. The product of literals forms a product term. The
product term will be 1 only if all of the literals are 1.

What are the values of the A, B and C if the

product term of A.B.C = 1?
Each literal must = 1; therefore A = 1, B = 0 and C = 0.

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Laws and Rules of Boolean algebra
Commutative Laws

The commutative laws are applied to addition and

multiplication. For addition, the commutative law states
In terms of the result, the order in which variables
are ORed makes no difference.
A+B=B+A
For multiplication, the commutative law states
In terms of the result, the order in which variables
are ANDed makes no difference.
AB = BA

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Associative Laws
The associative laws are also applied to addition and
multiplication. For addition, the associative law states
When ORing more than two variables, the result is
the same regardless of the grouping of the variables.
A + (B +C) = (A + B) + C

For multiplication, the associative law states

When ANDing more than two variables, the result is
the same regardless of the grouping of the variables.
A(BC) = (AB)C

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Distributive Law
The distributive law is the factoring law. A common
variable can be factored from an expression just as in
ordinary algebra. That is
AB + AC = A(B+ C)
The distributive law can be illustrated with equivalent
circuits:
A
AB
B B
B+ C
C X
X A
A AC
C
A(B+ C) AB + AC

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Rules of Boolean Algebra

1. A + 0 = A 7. A . A = A
2. A + 1 = 1 8. A . A = 0
=
3. A . 0 = 0 9. A = A
4. A . 1 = 1 10. A + AB = A
5. A + A = A 11. A + AB = A + B
6. A + A = 1 12. (A + B)(A + C) = A + BC

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Rules of Boolean Algebra
Rules of Boolean algebra can be illustrated with Venn
diagrams. The variable A is shown as an area.
The rule A + AB = A can be illustrated easily with a diagram. Add
an overlapping area to represent the variable B.
The overlap region between A and B represents AB.

A B A
AB =

The diagram visually shows that A + AB = A. Other rules can be

illustrated with the diagrams as well.

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Rules of Boolean Algebra
Illustrate the rule A + AB = A + B with a Venn
diagram.

This time, A is represented by the blue area and B

again by the red circle. The intersection represents
AB. Notice that A + AB = A + B

A
A BA
AB

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Rules of Boolean Algebra
Rule 12, which states that (A + B)(A + C) = A + BC, can
be proven by applying earlier rules as follows:
(A + B)(A + C) = AA + AC + AB + BC
= A + AC + AB + BC
= A(1 + C + B) + BC
= A . 1 + BC
= A + BC

This rule is a little more complicated, but it can also be

shown with a Venn diagram, as given on the following
slide…

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Three areas represent the variables A, B, and C.
The area representing A + B is shown in yellow.
The area representing A + C is shown in red.
The overlap of red and yellow is shown in orange.

The overlapping area between B and C represents BC.

ORing with A gives the same area as before.

A B A B
A+B
A+C = BC
C C
(A + B)(A + C) A + BC
Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Logic Simplification
1. DeMorgan’s Theorem
DeMorgan’s 1st Theorem
The complement of a product of variables is
equal to the sum of the complemented variables.
AB = A + B
Applying DeMorgan’s first theorem to gates:
A A Inputs Output
AB A+B
B B
A B AB A + B
NAND Negative-OR 0 0 1 1
0 1 1 1
1 0 1 1
1 1 0 0

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 DeMorgan’s Theorem
DeMorgan’s 2nd Theorem
The complement of a sum of variables is equal to
the product of the complemented variables.
A+B=A.B
Applying DeMorgan’s second theorem to gates:
A A Inputs Output
A+B AB
B B
A B A + B AB
NOR Negative-AND 0 0 1 1
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0
1 1 0 0

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 DeMorgan’s Theorem

Apply DeMorgan’s theorem to remove the overbar

covering both terms from the
expression X = C + D.

To apply DeMorgan’s theorem to the expression,

you can break the overbar covering both terms and
change the sign between the terms. This results in
=
X = C . D. Deleting the double bar gives X = C . D.

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 2. Boolean Analysis of Logic Circuits

Combinational logic circuits can be analyzed by writing

the expression for each gate and combining the
expressions according to the rules for Boolean algebra.
Apply Boolean algebra to derive the expression for X.

Write the expression for each gate:

A (A + B )
C (A + B )
B
C X = C (A + B )+ D
D

Applying DeMorgan’s theorem and the distribution law:

X = C (A B) + D = A B C + D

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Boolean Analysis of Logic Circuits
Use Multisim to generate the truth table for the circuit in the
previous example.
Set up the circuit using the Logic Converter as shown. (Note
that the logic converter has no “real-world” counterpart.)
Double-click the Logic
Converter top open it.
Then click on the
conversion bar on the
right side to see the
truth table for the circuit
(see next slide).

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Boolean Analysis of Logic Circuits
The simplified logic expression can be viewed by clicking

Simplified
expression

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 SOP and POS forms
Boolean expressions can be written in the sum-of-products
form (SOP) or in the product-of-sums form (POS). These
forms can simplify the implementation of combinational
logic, particularly with PLDs. In both forms, an overbar
cannot extend over more than one variable.
An expression is in SOP form when two or more product terms are
summed as in the following examples:
ABC+AB ABC+CD CD+E
An expression is in POS form when two or more sum terms are
multiplied as in the following examples:
(A + B)(A + C) (A + B + C)(B + D) (A + B)C

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 SOP Standard form
In SOP standard form, every variable in the domain must
appear in each term. This form is useful for constructing
truth tables or for implementing logic in PLDs.
You can expand a nonstandard term to standard form by multiplying the
term by a term consisting of the sum of the missing variable and its
complement.

Convert X = A B + A B C to standard form.

The first term does not include the variable C. Therefore,
multiply it by the (C + C), which = 1:
X = A B (C + C) + A B C
=ABC+ABC+ABC

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 SOP Standard form
The Logic Converter in Multisim can convert a circuit into
standard SOP form.
Use Multisim to view the logic for the circuit
in standard SOP form.

Click the truth table to logic

button on the Logic Converter.

See next slide…

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 SOP Standard form

SOP
Standard
form

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 POS Standard form
In POS standard form, every variable in the domain must
appear in each sum term of the expression.
You can expand a nonstandard POS expression to standard form by
adding the product of the missing variable and its complement and
applying rule 12, which states that (A + B)(A + C) = A + BC.

Convert X = (A + B)(A + B + C) to standard form.

The first sum term does not include the variable C.

Therefore, add C C and expand the result by rule 12.
X = (A + B + C C)(A + B + C)
= (A +B + C )(A + B + C)(A + B + C)

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 3. Karnaugh maps
The Karnaugh map (K-map) is a tool for simplifying
combinational logic with 3 or 4 variables. For 3 variables,
8 cells are required (23).
The map shown is for three variables
labeled A, B, and C. Each cell ABC ABC
represents one possible product term.
ABC ABC
Each cell differs from an adjacent
cell by only one variable. ABC ABC

ABC ABC

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Karnaugh maps
Cells are usually labeled using 0’s and 1’s to represent the
variable and its complement.
C The numbers are entered in gray
0 1
AB code, to force adjacent cells to be
00 different by only one variable.

Gray 01 Ones are read as the true variable

code and zeros are read as the
11
complemented variable.
10

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Karnaugh maps
Alternatively, cells can be labeled with the variable letters.
This makes it simple to read, but it takes more time
preparing the map.
CC CC
Read the terms for the AB
AB ABC ABC
yellow cells.
AB
AB ABC
ABC ABC

The cells are ABC and ABC. AB

AB ABC ABC

AB
AB ABC ABC
ABC

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Karnaugh maps
K-maps can simplify combinational logic by grouping
cells and eliminating variables that change.
Group the 1’s on the map and read the minimum logic.

C 0 1
AB
1 1. Group the 1’s into two overlapping
00
B changes groups as indicated.
across this 01 1 1 2. Read each group by eliminating any
boundary variable that changes across a boundary.
11

10 C changes
3. The vertical group is read AC.
across this 4. The horizontal group is read AB.
boundary
X = AC +AB
Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Karnaugh maps
A 4-variable map has an adjacent cell on each of its four
boundaries as shown.
Each cell is different only by
CD CD CD CD
one variable from an adjacent
AB
cell.
AB Grouping follows the rules
AB
given in the text.
The following slide shows an
AB
example of reading a four
variable map using binary
numbers for the variables…

Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved
 Karnaugh maps
Group the 1’s on the map and read the minimum logic.
C changes across
outer boundary
CD
00 01 11 10 1. Group the 1’s into two separate
AB
00 1 1 groups as indicated.
B changes 2. Read each group by eliminating
01 1 1 any variable that changes across a
11 boundary.
1 1
B changes 3. The upper (yellow) group is read as
10 1 1 AD.
4. The lower (green) group is read as
C changes
AD.
X
X = AD +AD
Floyd, Digital Fundamentals, 10th ed © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All Rights Reserved