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Karnaugh Map

Karnaugh maps are a method for simplifying Boolean algebra expressions by grouping variables to minimize terms. They arrange variables in a grid based on Gray code and circle groups of ones to identify terms. Potential race conditions between groups can be eliminated by adding redundant terms to make the dynamic performance race-free. Examples show how Karnaugh maps are used to minimize Boolean functions down to their simplest form and account for "don't care" conditions.

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92 views6 pages

Karnaugh Map

Karnaugh maps are a method for simplifying Boolean algebra expressions by grouping variables to minimize terms. They arrange variables in a grid based on Gray code and circle groups of ones to identify terms. Potential race conditions between groups can be eliminated by adding redundant terms to make the dynamic performance race-free. Examples show how Karnaugh maps are used to minimize Boolean functions down to their simplest form and account for "don't care" conditions.

Uploaded by

Havend Ali
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Karnaugh Map

The Karnaugh map (K-map for short), Maurice Karnaugh's 1953 refinement of Edward
Veitch's 1952 Veitch diagram, is a method to simplify Boolean algebra expressions. The
Karnaugh map reduces the need for extensive calculations by taking advantage of
humans' pattern-recognition capability, permitting the rapid identification and elimination
of potential race conditions.
In a Karnaugh map the boolean variables are transferred (generally from a truth table)
and ordered according to the principles of Gray code in which only one variable changes
in between adjacent squares. Once the table is generated and the output possibilities are
transcribed, the data is arranged into the largest possible groups containing 2n cells
(n=0,1,2,3...)[1] and the minterm is generated through the axiom laws of boolean algebra.

Example
Karnaugh maps are used to facilitate the simplification of Boolean algebra functions. The
following is an unsimplified Boolean Algebra function with Boolean variables A, B, C, D,
and their inverses. They can be represented in two different functions:
• f(A,B,C,D) = ∑(6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14) Note: The values inside ∑ are
the minterms to map (i.e. which rows have output 1 in the truth table).
Truth table
Using the defined minterms, the truth table can be created:
# A B C D f(A,B,C,D)
0 0 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 0 1 0

2 0 0 1 0 0

3 0 0 1 1 0

4 0 1 0 0 0

5 0 1 0 1 0

6 0 1 1 0 1

7 0 1 1 1 0

8 1 0 0 0 1

9 1 0 0 1 1

10 1 0 1 0 1

11 1 0 1 1 1

12 1 1 0 0 1

13 1 1 0 1 1

14 1 1 1 0 1

15 1 1 1 1 0
Karnaugh map

K-map showing minterms and boxes covering the desired minterms. The brown region is
an overlapping of the red (square) and green regions.The input variables can be
combined in 16 different ways, so the Karnaugh map has 16 positions, and therefore is
arranged in a 4 × 4 grid.The binary digits in the map represent the function's output for
any given combination of inputs. So 0 is written in the upper leftmost corner of the map
ecause ƒ = 0 when A = 0, B = 0, C = 0, D = 0. Similarly we mark the bottom right corner
as 1 because A = 1, B = 0, C = 1, D = 0 gives ƒ = 1. Note that the values are ordered in
a Gray code, so that precisely one variable changes between any pair of adjacent
cells.After the Karnaugh map has been constructed the next task is to find the minimal
terms to use in the final expression. These terms are found by encircling groups of 1s in
the map. The groups must be rectangular and must have an area that is a power of two
(i.e. 1, 2, 4, 8…). The rectangles should be as large as possible without containing any 0s.
The optimal groupings in this map are marked by the green, red and blue lines. Note that
groups may overlap. In this example, the red and green groups overlap. The red group is
a 2 × 2 square, the green group is a 4 × 1 rectangle, and the overlap area is indicated in
brown.
The grid is toroidally connected, which means that the rectangular groups can wrap
around edges, so

is a valid term, although not part of the minimal set—this covers Minterms 8, 10, 12, and
14.
Perhaps the hardest-to-visualize wrap-around term is

which covers the four corners—this covers minterms 0, 2, 8, 10.


Solution
Once the Karnaugh Map has been constructed and the groups derived, the solution can
be found by eliminating extra variables within groups using the axiom laws of boolean
algebra. It can be implied that rather than eliminating the variables that change within a
grouping, the minimal function can be derived by noting which variables stay the same.
For the Red grouping:
• The variable A maintains the same state (1) in the whole encircling, therefore
it should be included in the term for the red encircling.
• Variable B does not maintain the same state (it shifts from 1 to 0), and should
therefore be excluded.
• C does not change: it is always 0. Because C is 0, it has to be negated before
it is included (thus, ).
• D changes, so it is excluded as well.
Thus the first term in the Boolean sum-of-products expression is

For the Green grouping we see that A and B maintain the same state,
but C and D change. B is 0 and has to be negated before it can be included. Thus the
second term is

In the same way, the Blue grouping gives the term

The solutions of each grouping are combined into:

Inverse
The inverse of a function is solved in the same way by grouping the 0s instead.
The three terms to cover the inverse are all shown with grey boxes with different colored
borders:
• brown—
• gold—
• blue—BCD
This yields the inverse:

Through the use of De Morgan's laws, the product of sums can be determined:

Don't cares

The minterm 15 is dropped and replaced as a don't care, this removes the green term
completely but restricts the blue inverse term
Karnaugh maps also allow easy minimizations of functions whose truth tables include
"don't care" conditions (that is, sets of inputs for which the designer doesn't care what
the output is) because "don't care" conditions can be included in a circled group in an
effort to make it larger. They are usually indicated on the map with a dash or X.
The example to the right is the same above example but with minterm 15 dropped and
replaced as a don't care. This allows the red term to expand all the way down and, thus,
removes the green term completely.
This yields the new minimum equation:

Note that the first term is just A not

. In this case, the don't care has dropped a term (the green); simplified another (the red);
and removed the race hazard (the yellow as shown in a following section).
Also, since the inverse case no longer has to cover minterm 15, minterm 7 can be
covered with

rather than

with similar gains.


Race hazards
Elimination

Above k-map with the

term added to avoid race hazards


Karnaugh maps are useful for detecting and eliminating race hazards. Race hazards are
very easy to spot using a Karnaugh map, because a race condition may exist when
moving between any pair of adjacent, but disjointed, regions circled on the map.
• In the example to the right, a potential race condition exists when C is 1 and D
is 0, A is 1, and B changes from 1 to 0 (moving from the blue state to the green state).
For this case, the output is defined to remain unchanged at 1, but because this transition
is not covered by a specific term in the equation, a potential for a glitch (a momentary
transition of the output to 0) exists.
• There is a second potential glitch in the same example that is more difficult to
spot: when D is 0 and A and B are both 1, with C changing from 1 to 0 (moving from the
blue state to the red state). In this case the glitch wraps around from the top of the map
to the bottom.
Whether these glitches will actually occur depends on the physical nature of the
implementation, and whether we need to worry about it depends on the application.
In this case, an additional term of
would eliminate the potential race hazard, bridging between the green and blue output
states or blue and red output states: this is shown as the yellow region.
The term is redundant in terms of the static logic of the system, but such redundant,
or consensus terms, are often needed to assure race-free dynamic performance.
Similarly, an additional term of

must be added to the inverse to eliminate another potential race hazard. Applying De
Morgan's laws creates another product of sums expression for F, but with a new factor of

.
2-variable map examples
The following are all the possible 2-variable, 2 × 2 Karnaugh maps. Listed with each is
the minterms as a function of ∑() and the race hazard free (see previous section)
minimum equation.

∑(0); K = 0 ∑(1); K = A′B′ ∑(2); K = AB′ ∑(3); K = A′B

∑(4); K = AB ∑(1,2); K = B′ ∑(1,3); K = A′ ∑(1,4); K = A′B′ + AB

∑(2,3); K = AB′ +A ∑(2,4); K = A ∑(3,4); K = B ∑(1,2,3); K = A′ + B′


′B
∑(1,2,4); K = A + B′ ∑(1,3,4); K = A′ + B ∑(2,3,4); K = A + B ∑(1,2,3,4); K = 1
Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-map>

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