Chapter-2

Boolean Algebra and

Logic Gate
 Algebras
 What is an algebra?
 Mathematical system consisting of
 Set of elements
 Set of operators
 Axioms or postulates
 Why is it important?
 Defines rules of “calculations”
 Example: arithmetic on natural numbers
 Set of elements: N = {1,2,3,4,…}
 Operator: +, –, *
 Axioms: associativity, distributivity, closure, identity elements, etc.
 Note: operators with two inputs are called binary
 Does not mean they are restricted to binary numbers!
 Operator(s) with one input are called unary
BASIC DEFINITIONS
 A set is collection of having the same property.
 S: set, x and y: element or event
 For example: S = {1, 2, 3, 4}
 If x = 2, then xS.
 If y = 5, then y S.
 A binary operator defines on a set S of elements is a rule
that assigns, to each pair of elements from S, a unique
element from S.
 For example: given a set S, consider a*b = c and * is a binary
operator.
 We say that, * is a binary operator if it specifies a rule for finding c
from the pair (a, b) and also if a, b, c S.
 On the other hand, * is not a binary operator if a, b S, while the
rule finds c  S.
BASIC DEFINITIONS
 The most common postulates used to formulate various
algebraic structures are as follows:
1. Closure: a set S is closed with respect to a binary operator if, for
every pair of elements of S, the binary operator specifies a rule for
obtaining a unique element of S.
 For example, natural numbers N={1,2,3,...} is closed w.r.t. the binary
operator + by the rule of arithmetic addition, since, for any a, bN, there
is a unique cN such that
 a+b = c
 But operator – is not closed for N, because 2-3 = -1 and 2, 3N, but (-1)N.
2. Associative law: a binary operator * on a set S is said to be
associative whenever
 (x * y) * z = x * (y * z) for all x, y, zS
 (x+y)+z = x+(y+z)
3. Commutative law: a binary operator * on a set S is said to be
commutative whenever
 x * y = y * x for all x, yS
 x+y = y+x
 BASIC DEFINITIONS
4. Identity element: a set S is said to have an identity element with respect to a binary
operation * on S if there exists an element eS with the property that
 e * x = x * e = x for every xS
 0+x = x+0 =x for every xI . I = {…, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …}.
 1*x = x*1 =x for every xI. I = {…, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …}.
5. Inverse: a set having the identity element e with respect to the binary operator to have an
inverse whenever, for every xS, there exists an element yS such that
 x*y=e
 The operator + over I, with e = 0, the inverse of an element a is (-a), since a+(-a) = 0.
6. Distributive law: if * and ． are two binary operators on a set S, * is said to be distributive
over . whenever
 x * (y ． z) = (x * y) ． (x * z)
George Boole
 Father of Boolean algebra
 He came up with a type of linguistic algebra, the three
most basic operations of which were (and still are) AND,
OR and NOT. It was these three functions that formed
the basis of his premise, and were the only operations
necessary to perform comparisons or basic
mathematical functions.
 Boole’s system (detailed in his 'An Investigation of the
Laws of Thought, on Which Are Founded the
Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities',
1854) was based on a binary approach, processing only
two objects - the yes-no, true-false, on-off, zero-one
approach. George Boole (1815 - 1864)
 Surprisingly, given his standing in the academic
community, Boole's idea was either criticized or
completely ignored by the majority of his peers.
 Eventually, one bright student, Claude Shannon (1916-
2001), picked up the idea and ran with it
 Axiomatic Definition of Boolean Algebra
 We need to define algebra for binary values
 Developed by George Boole in 1854
 Huntington postulates for Boolean algebra (1904):
 B = {0, 1} and two binary operations, + and ．
 Closure with respect to operator + and operator ·
 Identity element 0 for operator + and 1 for operator ·
 Commutativity with respect to + and ·
x+y = y+x, x·y = y·x
 Distributivity of · over +, and + over ·
x·(y+z) = (x·y)+(x·z) and x+(y·z) = (x+y)·(x+z)
 Complement for every element x is x’ with x+x’=1, x·x’=0
 There are at least two elements x,yB such that xy
 Boolean Algebra
 Terminology:
 Literal: A variable or its complement
 Product term: literals connected by •
 Sum term: literals connected by +
Postulates of Two-Valued Boolean Algebra
 B = {0, 1} and two binary operations, + and ．
 The rules of operations: AND 、 OR and NOT.

AND OR NOT
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
1. Closure (+ and‧)
2. The identity elements
(1) +: 0
(2) ． : 1
 Postulates of Two-Valued Boolean Algebra
3. The commutative laws
4. The distributive laws

y+ x． x． (x ． y)+
x y z x．z
z (y+z) y (x ． z)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1
1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 Postulates of Two-Valued Boolean Algebra
5. Complement
 x+x'=1 → 0+0'=0+1=1; 1+1'=1+0=1
 x ． x'=0 → 0 ． 0'=0 ． 1=0; 1 ． 1'=1 ． 0=0
6. Has two distinct elements 1 and 0, with 0 ≠ 1

 Note
 A set of two elements
 + : OR operation; ． : AND operation
 A complement operator: NOT operation
 Binary logic is a two-valued Boolean algebra
Duality
 The principle of duality is an important concept. This
says that if an expression is valid in Boolean algebra,
the dual of that expression is also valid.
 To form the dual of an expression, replace all +
operators with . operators, all . operators with +
operators, all ones with zeros, and all zeros with ones.
 Form the dual of the expression
a + (bc) = (a + b)(a + c)
 Following the replacement rules…
a(b + c) = ab + ac
 Take care not to alter the location of the parentheses if
they are present.
Basic Theorems
Boolean Theorems
 Huntington’s postulates define some rules
Post. 1:
closure
Post. 2:
(a) x+0=x, (b) x·1=x
Post. 3:
(a) x+y=y+x, (b) x·y=y·x
Post. 4:
(a) x(y+z) = xy+xz,
(b) x+yz = (x+y)(x+z)
 Need more rules to modify Post. 5: (a) x+x’=1, (b) x·x’=0
algebraic expressions
 Theorems that are derived from postulates
 What is a theorem?
 A formula or statement that is derived from
postulates (or other proven theorems)
 Basic theorems of Boolean algebra
 Theorem 1 (a): x + x = x (b): x · x = x
 Looks straightforward, but needs to be proven !
Proof of x+x=x
 We can only use Huntington postulates:
Huntington postulates:
Post. 2: (a) x+0=x, (b) x·1=x
Post. 3: (a) x+y=y+x, (b) x·y=y·x
Post. 4: (a) x(y+z) = xy+xz,
(b) x+yz = (x+y)(x+z)
Post. 5: (a) x+x’=1, (b) x·x’=0
 Show that x+x=x.
x+x = (x+x)·1 by 2(b)
= (x+x)(x+x’) by 5(a)
= x+xx’ by 4(b)
= x+0 by 5(b)
=x by 2(a)

We can now use Theorem 1(a) in future proofs

 Proof of x·x=x
 Similar to previous Huntington postulates:
proof
Post. 2: (a) x+0=x, (b) x·1=x
Post. 3: (a) x+y=y+x, (b) x·y=y·x
Post. 4: (a) x(y+z) = xy+xz,
(b) x+yz = (x+y)(x+z)
Post. 5: (a) x+x’=1, (b) x·x’=0
Th. 1: (a) x+x=x

 Show that x·x = x.

x·x = xx+0 by 2(a)
= xx+xx’ by 5(b)
= x(x+x’) by 4(a)
= x·1 by 5(a)
=x by 2(b)
Proof of x+1=1
 Theorem 2(a): x + 1 = 1 Huntington postulates:
x + 1 = 1 ． (x + 1) by 2(b) Post. 2: (a) x+0=x, (b) x·1=x
=(x + x')(x + 1) 5(a) 3: (a) x+y=y+x, (b) x·y=y·x
Post.
= x + x' 1 Post.
4(b) 4: (a) x(y+z) = xy+xz,
(b) x+yz = (x+y)(x+z)
= x + x' 2(b) 5: (a) x+x’=1, (b) x·x’=0
Post.
=1 5(a)1: (a) x+x=x
Th.
 Theorem 2(b): x ． 0 = 0 by duality
 Theorem 3: (x')' = x
 Postulate 5 defines the complement of x, x + x' = 1 and x x' = 0
 The complement of x' is x is also (x')'
Absorption Property (Covering)
 Huntington postulates:
Theorem 6(a): x + xy = x
 x + xy = x ． 1 + xy by 2(b) Post. 2: (a) x+0=x, (b) x·1=x
= x (1 + y) 4(a) Post. 3: (a) x+y=y+x, (b) x·y=y·x
= x (y + 1) 3(a) Post. 4: (a) x(y+z) = xy+xz,
=x．1 Th 2(a) (b) x+yz = (x+y)(x+z)
=x Post.
2(b) 5: (a) x+x’=1, (b) x·x’=0
Th. 1: (a) x+x=x
 Theorem 6(b): x (x + y) = x by duality
 By means of truth table (another way to proof )

x y xy x+x
y
0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 1
1 1 1 1
DeMorgan’s Theorem
 Theorem 5(a): (x + y)’ = x’y’
 Theorem 5(b): (xy)’ = x’ + y’
 By means of truth table

x y x’ y’ x+y (x+y) x’y’ xy x’+y' (xy)’

’
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
 Consensus Theorem
1. xy + x’z + yz = xy + x’z
2. (x+y)•(x’+z)•(y+z) = (x+y)•(x’+z) -- (dual)
 Proof:
xy + x’z + yz = xy + x’z + (x+x’)yz
= xy + x’z + xyz + x’yz
= (xy + xyz) + (x’z + x’zy)
= xy + x’z
(2 true by duality).
 Operator Precedence
 The operator precedence for evaluating Boolean Expression is
 Parentheses
 NOT
 AND
 OR
 Examples
 x y' + z
 (x y + z)'
 Boolean Functions
 A Boolean function
 Binary variables
 Binary operators OR and AND
 Unary operator NOT
 Parentheses
 Examples
 F1= x y z'
 F2 = x + y'z
 F3 = x' y' z + x' y z + x y'
 F4 = x y' + x' z
 Boolean Functions
 The truth table of 2n entries

x y z F1 F2 F3 F4
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 1 1 1
0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 1
1 0 0 0 1 1 1
1 0 1 0 1 1 1
1 1 0 1 1 0 0
1 1 1 0 1 0 0

 Two Boolean expressions may specify the same function

 F3 = F4
 Boolean Functions
 Implementation with logic gates
 F4 is more economical

F2 = x + y'z

F3 = x' y' z + x' y z + x y'

F4 = x y' + x' z
 Algebraic Manipulation
 To minimize Boolean expressions
 Literal: a primed or unprimed variable (an input to a gate)
 Term: an implementation with a gate
 The minimization of the number of literals and the number of terms → a circuit with less
equipment
 It is a hard problem (no specific rules to follow)
 Example 2.1
1. x(x'+y) = xx' + xy = 0+xy = xy
2. x+x'y = (x+x')(x+y) = 1 (x+y) = x+y
3. (x+y)(x+y') = x+xy+xy'+yy' = x(1+y+y') = x
4. xy + x'z + yz = xy + x'z + yz(x+x') = xy + x'z + yzx + yzx' = xy(1+z) + x'z(1+y) = xy +x'z
5. (x+y)(x'+z)(y+z) = (x+y)(x'+z), by duality from function 4. (consensus theorem with
duality)
 Complement of a Function
 An interchange of 0's for 1's and 1's for 0's in the value of F
 By DeMorgan's theorem
 (A+B+C)' = (A+X)' let B+C = X
= A'X' by theorem 5(a) (DeMorgan's)
= A'(B+C)' substitute B+C = X
= A'(B'C') by theorem 5(a) (DeMorgan's)
= A'B'C' by theorem 4(b) (associative)
 Generalizations: a function is obtained by interchanging AND and OR
operators and complementing each literal.
 (A+B+C+D+ ... +F)' = A'B'C'D'... F'
 (ABCD ... F)' = A'+ B'+C'+D' ... +F'
Examples
 Example 2.2
 F1' = (x'yz' + x'y'z)' = (x'yz')' (x'y'z)' = (x+y'+z) (x+y+z')
 F2' = [x(y'z'+yz)]' = x' + (y'z'+yz)' = x' + (y'z')' (yz)‘
= x' + (y+z) (y'+z')
= x' + yz‘+y’z ; XX’=0
 Example 2.3: a simpler procedure
 Take the dual of the function and complement each literal
1. F1 = x'yz' + x'y'z.
The dual of F1 is (x'+y+z') (x'+y'+z).
Complement each literal: (x+y'+z)(x+y+z') = F1'
2. F2 = x(y' z' + yz).
The dual of F2 is x+(y'+z') (y+z).
Complement each literal: x'+(y+z)(y' +z') = F2'
 2.6 Canonical and Standard Forms
Minterms and Maxterms
 A minterm (standard product): an AND term consists of all literals in their
normal form or in their complement form.
 For example, two binary variables x and y,
 xy, xy', x'y, x'y'
 It is also called a standard product.
 n variables can be combined to form 2n minterms.
 A maxterm (standard sums): an OR term
 It is also called a standard sum.
 2n maxterms.
Minterms and Maxterms
Minterms and Maxterms
Minterms and Maxterms
 Sum of Minterms
 Sum of minterms: there are 2n minterms with n Boolean variables.
 Example 2.4: express F = A+B'C as a sum of minterms.
 F = A+B'C = A (B+B') + B'C = AB +AB' + B'C = AB(C+C') + AB'(C+C') + (A+A')B'C =
ABC+ABC'+AB'C+AB'C'+A'B'C
 F = A'B'C +AB'C' +AB'C+ABC'+ ABC = m1 + m4 +m5 + m6 + m7
 F(A, B, C) = (1, 4, 5, 6, 7)
 or, built the truth table first
Product of Maxterms
Conversion between Canonical Forms
 Example
 F = xy + xz
 F(x, y, z) = (1, 3, 6, 7)
 F(x, y, z) =  (0, 2, 4, 5)
 Standard Forms
 Canonical forms are very seldom the ones with the least number of literals.
 Standard forms: the terms that form the function may obtain one, two, or
any number of literals.
 Sum of products: F1 = y' + xy+ x'yz'
 Product of sums: F2 = x(y'+z)(x'+y+z')
 F3 = A'B'CD+ABC'D'
 Implementation
 Two-level implementation

F1 = y' + xy+ x'yz' F2 = x(y'+z)(x'+y+z')

 Multi-level implementation
2.7 Other Logic Operations
Boolean Expressions
 2.8 Digital Logic Gates
 Boolean expression: AND, OR and NOT operations
 Constructing gates of other logic operations
 The feasibility and economy;
 The possibility of extending gate's inputs;
 The basic properties of the binary operations (commutative and associative);
 The ability of the gate to implement Boolean functions.
 Standard Gates
 Consider the 16 functions in Table 2.8 (slide 33)
 Two are equal to a constant (F0 and F15).
 Four are repeated twice (F4, F5, F10 and F11).
 Inhibition (F2) and implication (F13) are not commutative or associative.
 The other eight: complement (F12), transfer (F3), AND (F1), OR (F7), NAND (F14), NOR
(F8), XOR (F6), and equivalence (XNOR) (F9) are used as standard gates.
 Complement: inverter.
 Transfer: buffer (increasing drive strength).
 Equivalence: XNOR.
Summary of Logic Gates

Figure 2.5 Digital logic gates

Summary of Logic Gates

Figure 2.5 Digital logic gates

Multiple Inputs
Multiple Inputs

X= 1. y=0. z=0

Figure 2.6 Demonstrating the nonassociativity of the NOR operator;

(x ↓ y) ↓ z ≠ x ↓(y ↓ z)
Multiple Inputs

Figure 2.7 Multiple-input and cascaded NOR and NAND gates

Multiple Inputs

Figure 2.8 3-input XOR gate

Figure 2.9 Signal assignment and logic polarity
Positive and Negative Logic

A positive logic AND gate is the same physical gate as a

negative logic OR gate