Chapter Four

Boolean Algebra and Logic Simplification

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 Boolean Operations & Expressions
 Variable
– A symbol that represents a logical quantity
– Usually italic uppercase (A, B, C, D)
– A single variable can have a 1 or 0 value

 Complement
– The inverse of a variable
– Indicated by an overbar (Ā) or prime (A’)
– If A = 1 , then Ā = 0

 Literal = both variable and its complement

in a term.
– Ā + B + C  3 literals
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 Laws & Rules of Boolean Algebra

 Basic laws of BA
 Commutative Laws
 For addition and multiplication
 Associative Laws
 For addition and multiplication
 Distributive Laws

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 Commutative Laws

A + B = B + A
A B
A+B B+A
B A

Commutative law of addition

 AB = BA
A B
AB BA
B A

Commutative law of multiplication

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 Associative Laws
 A + (B + C) = (A + B) + C
A A
A+B
A + (B + C)
B
B
(A + B) + C
B+C
C C
Associative law of addition

 A(BC) = (AB)C
A A
A(BC)
B

B
(AB)C
BC
C C

Associative law of multiplication

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 Distributive Law

 A(B + C) = AB + AC

B A
B+C
C B
AB + AC
A(B + C)
A
A
C

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Rules of Boolean Algebra
1 A+0=A
2 A+1=1
3 A 0=0
4 A 1=A
5 A+A=A
6 A+A=1
7 A A=A
8 A A=0
9 A=A
10 A + AB = A
11 A + AB = A + B
12 (A + B)(A + C) = A + BC
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Rules of Boolean Algebra: Proof

Rule 1:
A= 1 A= 0
X=1 X=0
0 0

X=A+0=A

Rule 2:
A= 1 A= 0
X=1 X=1
1 1

X=A+1=1

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Rule 3:
A= 1 A= 0
X=0 X=0
0 0

X=A 0=0
Rule 4:
A= 0 A= 1
X=0 X=1
1 1

X=A 1=A

Rule 5:
A= 0 A= 1
X=0 X=1
A= 0 A= 1

X=A+A=A
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Rule 6:
A= 0 A= 1
X=1 X=1
A= 1 A= 0

X=A+A=1

Rule 7:
A= 0 A= 1
X=0 X=1
A= 0 A= 1

X=A A=A

Rule 8:
A= 1 A= 0
X=0 X=0
A=0 A=1

X=A A=0
Rule 9:
A =0
A =1
A= 1 A=1
A= 0 A=0

A=A
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 Rules 10, 11 and 12 can be proven using BA laws
Rule 10:
A + AB = A(1 + B) Factoring (distributive law)
=A.1 Rule 2: (1 + B) = 1
=A Rule 4: A . 1 = A

Rule 11:
A + AB = (A + AB) + AB Rule 10: A = A + AB
= (AA + AB) + AB Rule 7: A = AA
= AA + AB + AA + AB Rule 8: adding AA = 0
= (A + A)(A + B) Factoring
= 1 . (A + B) Rule 6: A + A = 1
=A+B Rule 4: drop the 1

Rule 12:
(A + B)(A + C) = AA + AC + AB + BC Distributive law
= A + AC + AB + BC Rule 7: AA = A
= A(1 + C) + AB + BC Factoring (distributive law)
= A . 1 + AB + BC Rule 2: 1 + C = 1
= A(1 + B) + BC Factoring (distributive law)
= A . 1 + BC Rule 2: 1 + B = 1
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= A + BC Rule 4: A . 1 = A
 Proof can also be shown by a truth table.

Rule 10
A B AB A + AB
0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 1
1 1 1 1

equal

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 DeMorgan’s Theorems

 Provides mathematical verification for:

– NAND ≡ negative-OR
– NOR ≡ negative-AND
X X
XY X+Y
Y Y
NAND Negative-OR

X X
X+Y XY
Y Y

NOR Negative-AND

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 DM theorem 1:
 The complement of a product of variables is equal
to the sum of the complements of the variables

XY = X + Y
 DM theorem 2:
 The complement of a sum of variables is equal to
the product of the complements of the variables

X + Y = XY

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DeMorgan’s Theorem Application
DeMorgan's Theorems I

XYZ = X + Y + Z

WXYZ = W + X + Y + Z

DeMorgan's Theorem II

X + Y + Z = XYZ

W + X + Y + Z = WXYZ

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Examples for DeMorgan’s Theorems

(AB +C)(A + BC) = (AB + C) + (A + BC)

(AB + C) + (A + BC) = (AB)C + A(BC)

(AB)C + A(BC) = (A + B)C + A(B + C)

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 Quiz 2

1. Simplify the following Boolean expression

using DeMorgan’s Law

( AB  C )( A  BC )  Y

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Standard Form of Boolean Expressions

 Boolean expression can be converted into one of

2 standards forms:
 The sum-of-products (SOP) form
 The product-of-sums (POS) form

 Standardization makes the evaluation,

simplification, and implementation of Boolean
expressions more systematic and easier
 Product term = a term with the product (Boolean
multiplication) of literals
Sum term = a term with the sum (Boolean
addition) of literals

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 Sum-of-Products Form (Minterms)
 SOP = when 2 or more product/AND terms are
summed/ORed
 Some examples of this form are:
ABC  ABC
AB  ABC  CD  D
AB  CD  EF  GH
 Each AND term consists of one or more variables appearing in
either complemented or Uncomplemented form.
 SOP can also contain a single variable term

 In SOP a single overbar cannot extend over more than 1 variable,

but more than 1 variable can have an overbar.
 Example : we can not have

ABC or RST
 Cont…
 A logic expression can be changed to SOP form using
Boolean algebra techniques.
 A(B + CD) = AB + ACD
 AB + B(CD + EF) = AB + BCD + BEF

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 Standard SOP
 Domain = a set of variables contained in an
expression
 E.g. AB + ABC  domain = A, B, C
 ABC + CDE + BCD  domain = A, B, C, D, E

 Standard SOP form: - where all the variables in the

domain appear in each product term in the expression.

 To convert product terms to standard SOP

 Multiply each of the nonstandard product term with the missing
term using Boolean algebra rule 6 ( A  A  1 ).
 Repeat until all variables appear in each product term.

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 Example
 Convert this Boolean expression to standard SOP form:
ABC  A B  ABC D
 Domain = A, B, C, D.
 What is missing?
 Term 1: missing D or D’
 Term 2: missing (C/C’) and (D/D’)
 Complete these terms by applying Boolean rule 6

Term 1 : A BC  A BC ( D  D)  A BCD  A BC D

Term 2 : A B  A BC  A BC
 A BC ( D  D)  A BC ( D  D)  A BCD  A BC D  A BC D  A BC D
 Now we have

ABC  AB  ABC D
 ABCD  ABC D  ABCD  ABC D  ABC D  ABC D  ABC D
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 Product-of-Sums (POS) Form
 POS = when 2 or more sum terms are
multiplied.
( A  B  C) ( A  C)
( A  B ) (C  D) F
 Like SOP, POS
 can also contain a single variable term
 a single overbar cannot extend over more than one
variable, but more than one variable can have an
overbar.
 Example: we can not have

A B C
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 Standard POS
 Standard POS form = where all the variables in
the domain appear in each sum term in the
expression.
 To convert product terms to standard POS
 Multiply each of the nonstandard term with the
missing term using Boolean algebra rule 8:

A A  0
 Apply rule 12 :
A  BC  ( A  B )( A  C )
 Repeat until all variables appear in each sum term.
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 Example
 Convert this Boolean expression to standard POS form
( A  B  C )( B  C  D )( A  B  C  D )
 Domain = A, B, C, D.
 What is missing?
 Term 1: missing D or D’
 Term 2: missing A or A’
 Apply rules 8 and 12
Term 1 : A  B  C  A  B  C  D D  ( A  B  C  D)( A  B  C  D)
Term 2 : B  C  D  B  C  D  A A

 Now we have  ( A  B  C  D)( A  B  C  D)

( A  B  C )( B  C  D )( A  B  C  D )
 ( A  B  C  D)( A  B  C  D )( A  B  C  D )( A  B  C  D)( A  B  C 25D)
 Steps to follow: SOP to POS

 Step 1: Evaluate each product term in the SOP

expression  i.e. determine the binary numbers
of the product terms.
 Step 2: Determine all the binary numbers not
included in Step 1.
 Step 3: Write equivalent sum term for each
binary number from Step 2 and express in POS
form.
 ** Using a similar procedure, to go from POS to
SOP
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 Example
 Convert this SOP exp. to an equivalent POS
exp.
A B C + A B C + A BC + AB C + A B C

 Domain = A, B, C = 3. So, 23 = 8 possible

combinations.
A B C + A B C + A BC + A B C + A B C
000 010 011 101 111

 The SOP have 5 of 8, so POS have the other 3

(001, 100, 110)  These 3 make sum term = 0
(A + B + C)(A + B + C)(A + B +C)
0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 27
Expansion of a Boolean Expression to Sop Form
 The following steps are followed for the expansion of a
Boolean expression in SOP form in standard SOP form:
1. Write down all the terms.
2. If one or more variables are missing in any term,
expand that term by multiplying it with the sum of
each one of the missing variable and its
complement
3. Drop out the redundant terms
 Also, the given expression can be directly written in terms of
its minterms by using the following procedure:
1. Write down all the terms.
2. Put Xs in terms where variables must be inserted
to form a minterm.
3. Replace the non-complemented variables by 1s
and the complemented variables by 0s, and use all
combinations of Xs in terms of 0s and 1s to
Example#1
Expand A  B to minterms and maxterms
Solution
 The given expression is a two-variable function.
 In the first term A , the variable B is missing; so, multiply it by B  B .
 In the second term B , the variable A is missing; so, multiply by (A  A) .
 Therefore,
A  B  A(B  B)  B(A  A )
 AB  A B  A B  A B
 AB  A B  A B
 01  00  10
 m1  m 0  m 2
  m(0,1,2)
 The minterm m3 is missing in the SOP form.
 Therefore, the maxterm M3 will be present in the POS form.
 Hence the POS form is M3 i.e. A  B.
 2nd method

A  B  AX  X B
 0X  X0
 00  01  00  10
 00  01  10
 m 0  m1  m 2
  m(0,1,2)
Exercise
 Expand A  BC  ABC to minterms and maxterms
Expansion of a Boolean Expression to POS Form
 The expansion of a Boolean expression to the standard
POS form is conducted as follows:
1. If one or more variables are missing in any sum term,
expand that term by adding the products of each of
the missing term and its complement.
2. Drop out the redundant terms.
 The given expression can also be written in terms of
maxterms by using the following procedure:

1. Put Xs in terms wherever variables must be inserted

to form a maxterm.
2. Replace the complemented variables by 1 s and the
non-complemented variables by Os and use all
combinations of Xs in terms of Os and 1 s to
generate maxterms.
3. Drop out the redundant terms.
Example#2
Expand A( B  A)B to maxterms and minterms
Solution
 The given expression is a two-variable function in the POS
form.
 The variable B is missing In the first term A. so, add BB to it.
 The second term contains all the variables. So leave it as it is.
 The variable A is missing in the third term B. So, add A A to it.
 Therefore, A  A  BB  (A  B)(A  B)
B  B  A A  (B  A)(B  A)
or
A( B  A)B  (A  B)(A  B)(A  B)(A  B)(A  B)
 (A  B)(A  B)( A  B)
 (00) (01) (10)
 M 0  M1  M 2
  M(0,1,2)
 The maxterm M3 is missing in the POS form. So, the SOP
form will contain only the minterm m3 i.e. AB
 Exercise
 Expand A(A  C )(A  B  C ) to maxterms and minterms

A  A  BB  C C
 ( A  B )( A  B )  C C
 ( A  B  C C )( A  B  C C )
 ( A  B  C )( A  B  C )  ( A  B  C )( A  B  C )
A  C  A  C  BB
 (A  B  C)( A  B  C)
Hence,

POS  ( A  B  C )( A  B  C )  ( A  B  C )( A  B  C )(A  B  C)(A  B  C)(A  B  C )

 M 2  M 3  M 0  M1  M 4  M 6 Maxterms  M(0,1,2,3,4,6)
  m(5,7) .............................................. minterms