Lecture 4

Karnaugh Maps
 Unit 5
 Karnaugh Maps
5.1 Minimum Forms of Switching Functions
5.2 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps
5.3 Four-Variable Karnaugh Maps
5.4 Determination of Minimum Expressions Using
Essential Prime Implicants
5.5 Five-Variable Karnaugh Maps

2
 Introduction
 Simplification by using algebraic techniques
The procedures are challenging to apply
systematically.
It is difficult to tell when you have arrived at a
minimum solution.

 Karnaugh Map (K-Map)

An useful tool for simplifying and manipulation
switching functions of three or four variables.
Faster and Easier

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 Minimum Forms of Switching Functions (1/4)
 SOP expression - Two-level AND-OR gate network
 Example:

AB 'CD' E  AC ' E ' D ' E  A  B ' C

 POS expression - Two-level OR-AND gate network
 Example:

( A  B ' )(C  D ' E )( A  C ' E ' ) ( D ' E ) AB ' C

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 Minimum Forms of Switching Functions (2/4)
 Minimum sum-of products
 A sum of product terms
 Has a minimum number of (product) terms (AND
gates)
 Has a minimum number of literals (number of gate
inputs)
 Minimum two-level AND-OR network
 Minimum Product-of-sums
 A product of sum terms
 Has a minimum number of (sum) factors ( OR gates)
 Has a minimum number of literals (number of gate
inputs)
 Minimum two-level OR-AND network
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 Minimum Forms of Switching Functions (3/4)
 Example: Find the minimum sum-of-products of
F ( a, b, c )   m(0,1,2,5,6,7)

 Sol:

F ( a, b, c )  a ' b' c' a ' b' c  a ' bc' ab' c  abc' abc

 a ' b'  bc'  ac

3 terms, 6 literals

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 Minimum Forms of Switching Functions (4/4)
 Example: Find the minimum product-of-sums of
( A BC  D)( A BC  D)( A BC  D)( A BC  D )( A BC  D )( A BC  D )

 Sol:

(X+Y)(X+Y’)=X

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (1/11)
 2-variable Karnaugh maps

Minterm,
m2

 Example:
A B F
0 0 1
0 1 1
1 0 0
1 1 0

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (2/11)
 2-variable Karnaugh maps
 Example:

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (3/11)
 3-variable Karnaugh maps

A B C F
0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 1
0 1 1 1
1 0 0 1
1 0 1 0
1 1 0 1
1 1 1 0

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (4/11)
 Adjacent Cells
 Two cells whose corresponding minterms differ in
only one variable are said to be adjacent.

binary notation decimal notation

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (5/11)
 If F is given as a minterm (maxterm) expansion, the
map is by placing 1’s(0’s) in the squares that
correspond to the minterm ( maxterm) and then by filling
in the remaining squares with 0’s(1’s).
 Example:

F(a,b,c)(1, 3, 5)(0, 2, 4, 6, 7)

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (6/11)
 Plot Karnaugh map if a function is in algebraic form.
F = b + bc’ + ac’

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (7/11)
 Plot Karnaugh map if a function is in algebraic form.
Example:
f ( a,b,c )abcbca

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (8/11)
 Simplify a function using the Karnaugh map
 Example:

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (9/11)
 Simplify a function using the Karnaugh map
 Example: Simplify the complement of F m(1,3,5)

Method 1
(By inspection):
1.The loops must
cover all 1’s

2. Consider the
largest loop and
shrink down, ie.
8, 4, 2, 1

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (10/11)
 The Consensus Theorem
 Example:

xy  xz  yz  xy  xz

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 Two- and Three- Variable Karnaugh Maps (11/11)
 Minimum sum-of-products is NOT unique.
 Example:
F m(0,1,2,5,6,7)

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 Four- Variable Karnaugh Maps (1/4)
 4-Variable Karnaugh Maps

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 Four- Variable Karnaugh Maps (2/4)
 Example: Simplify
f1 m(1,3,4,5,10,12,13) f 2 m(0,2,3,5,6,7,8,10,11,14,15)

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 Four- Variable Karnaugh Maps (3/4)
 Simplify a function with don’t care
 Example: This is not
f m(1,3,5,7,9)d (6,12,13) useful to form
loop, so leave
it alone.

Helpful to form
a loop with 1’s
Rule:
All the 1’s must be covered, but
the X’s are only used if they will
simplify the resulting expression. This is not
useful to form
loop, so leave
it alone.

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 Four- Variable Karnaugh Maps (4/4)
 Find a minimum product-of-sums (POS)
1. Find a minimum sum-of-products for F’
2. Complement F’ using DeMorgan’s Theorem

 Example: Find a minimum product-of-sums for

f  xz wyz  wy z  xy
Step 1:
f  y z  wxz  wxy Complement f in SOP

f ( f )( y  z)( w x z )( w x y )

Step 2:
Apply De Morgan

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (1/12)
 Cover: A switching function f(x1,x2,…,xn) is said to
cover another function g(x1,x2,…,xn), if f assumes the
value 1 whenever g does, i.e. g=1 → f=1.
 Implicant: Given a function F of n variables, a
product term P is an implicant of F iff for every
combination of values of the n variables for which P=1, F
is equal to 1. That is, P=1 implies F=1.

g =1 → f= 1, f covers g  Examples
 f=wx+yz, g=wxy’
g=1 (w=1,x=1,y=0) implies f=1.1+0.z=1, f
If g = product term, g = covers g.
implicant g is a product term, g is an implicant of f.

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (2/12)

 Prime Implicant: A prime implicant of a function F

is a product term implicant that is no longer implicant if
any literal is deleted.
If any literal in g is  Examples
removed,  f=wx+yz, g=wxy’
 g is not a prime implicant. The literal y’
g =1 → f≠1, g is PI. is deleted from wxy’, the resulting term
wx is also an implicant of f.

 h=wx is a prime implicant. The deletion

of any literal (w or x) results a new
product (x or w) which is not covered
by f.
eg. w=1 does not imply f=1
(w=1,x=0,y=0,z=0 imply f=0)

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (2/12)
 Essential Prime Implicant: If a minterm is
covered by only one prime implicant, then that prime
implicant is called an essential prime implicant.

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (3/12)
 On a Karnaugh Map
 Any single 1 or any group of 1’s (2k 1’s, k=0,1,2,…)
combined on a map of the function F represents a
product term called an implicant of F.

 A product term implicant is called a prime implicant

(PI) if it cannot be combined with another term to
eliminate a variable.

 If a minterm is covered by only one prime implicant,

then that prime implicant is called an essential prime
implicant (EPI).

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (4/12)
 Example:

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (5/12)
 The minimum sum-of-products expression for a function
consists of some (but not necessarily all) of the prime
implicants of a function.

 A sum-of-products expression consisting of a term, not a

prime implicant, cannot be minimum.

 The essential prime implicant must be included in the

minimum sum-of-products.

 To find the minimum sum-of-products from a map, we

must find a minimum number of prime implicants which
cover all of the 1’s on the map.

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Using Essential Prime Implicants (5/12)

Min SOP = ALL EPI + some PI

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (6/12)
 Example:

30
 Using Essential Prime Implicants (7/12)
 Example:

Essential prime implicants: BD, BC , AC

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (8/12)
 Procedure to Find a Minimum Sum of Products Using a
Karnaugh Map
1. Choose a minterm (a 1) that has not yet been
covered.
2. Find all 1’s and X’s adjacent to that minterm.
3. If a single term covers the minterm and all of the
adjacent 1’s and X’s, then that term is an EPI, so
select that term.
4. Repeat steps 1,2 and 3 until all EPI have been
chosen.
5. Find a minimum set of prime implicants that cover
the remaining 1s on the map. If there is more than
one such set, choose a set with a minimum number
of literals.

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (9/12)
 Example: Simplify the function
f ( A,B,C ,D )m(0,1,2,4,5,7,11,15).

 ABD 
f  AC  ABD ACD  
 BCD 
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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (10/12)
 Example: Simplify the function
f ( A,B,C ,D )m( 4,5,6,8,9,10,13)d (0,7,15)

* If a single term
covers the
minterm and all
of the adjacent
1’s and X’s, then
that term is an
essential prime
implicant, so
select that term.

f  AB ABD AC D
essential prime implicants

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (11/12)
 Notes on the simplification of a function
 Some functions have no essential prime implicants.

Cyclic prime implicant map.

All the prime implicant map: A’C’, A’B, BC, AC, AB’, B’C’
F(A, B, C)=A’C’+BC+AB’ or F(A, B, C)=A’B+AC+B’C’

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 Using Essential Prime Implicants (12/12)
 Notes on the simplification of a function
 To find a minimum sum-of-products expression, all
essential prime implicants must be selected FIRST.
1st Method:

1. The loops
must cover all
1’s
Is BD required?
2. Consider the
largest loop
and shrink
down, ie. 8, 4,
2, 1

Choose all essential prime implicants first

F(A, B, C)=ABC’+A’BC+ACD+A’C’D

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 Example
 Derive Boolean equations for a 2-bit multiplier. First, fill
the truth table, then use KM to simplify each output
equation. Finally, further simplify the equations with the
XOR operator (if applicable).

Input Output
A1A0 A1 A0 B1 B0 P3 P2 P1 P0
X B1B0 0 0 0 0
--------------
P3P2P1P0 0 0 0 1
… … … …

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 Example
Design a 2-bit multiplier circuit with two half-adders (HA)
and AND gates.
X Y Sum
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1

Sum  X ' Y  XY ' 1 1 0

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40
5-Variable Karnaugh Maps (1/3)

1
0

Adjacency in 5 variables of KM

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 5-Variable Karnaugh Maps (1/3)
 5-variable Karnaugh Map

These two terms do not combine because they are in different

layers and different columns. They differ from two variables.

These eight terms combine to give BD’. B is

given from last two columns and D’ is given
from top two rows. A is eliminated because
four terms are in top layer and four in the
bottom.

These four terms (two from top layer and two

from bottom) combine to yield CDE (C is given
from the moddle two columns and DE is given
from the row).

These two terms in top layer combine to give AB’DE’.

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 5-Variable Karnaugh Maps (2/3)
 Example : Simplify the function
F( A,B,C,D,E)m(0,1, 4, 5,13,15,20,21,22,23,24,26,28,30,31)

Shaded 1’s are used to select

essential prime implicants.

 AB 'C 
F  A'B 'D ' ABE ' ACD A'BCE   
 B 'CD ' 
P1 P2 P3 P4

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 5-Variable Karnaugh Maps (3/3)
 Example: Simplify the function
F ( A,B,C ,D,E )m(0, 1, 3, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 25, 27, 31)

1-9-17-25

C 'D 'E 
F  B 'C 'D' B 'C 'E  A'C 'D ' A'BCD ABDE   
 AC ' E 
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 17-19-25-27

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 End of Lecture 4

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