ECE 124 – Digital Circuits and Systems

Dept. of ECE, Univ. of Waterloo

Lecture Slides: Set 9 - Part 3

Contents:
• Tabular Method

©2014-2023 M. A. Hasan. These slides and notes are for the exclusive use of the students registered
in the course. Reproduction in any form or use for any other purposes is prohibited.

Set 9 - Part 3 1
 Tabular method for minimization

• This method is also known as the Quine-McCluskey method

• It closely follows the procedure described near the end of part
2 of slide set 9 and has the same steps
• The method can be easily programmed and run efficiently on
computers
• The basis of the tabular (as well as K-map) method is the
combining property of Boolean algebra
𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥 + 𝑥𝑥𝑦𝑦 ′ = 𝑥𝑥
• We will use the following function to explain the method
𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥1 , … , 𝑥𝑥4 = Σ m(0, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15)

Set 9 - Part 3 2
 Generation of prime implicants

List 1:
• List all minterms in a table and group them based on the
number of 1’s in the binary representation of their indices
₋ E.g., 4 and 8 have only one ‘1’ in each of their binary
representations and hence 𝑚𝑚4 and 𝑚𝑚8 are in the same group (see
the table in the next slide)
₋ In List 1, minterm 𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖 is denoted by its index 𝑖𝑖 only
• (If there are any don’t cares, they can be treated like minterms)
• For each minterm, list the corresponding implicant (rightmost
column of List 1)
₋ E.g., For 𝑚𝑚13 , the corresponding implicant 𝑥𝑥1 𝑥𝑥2 𝑥𝑥𝑥3 𝑥𝑥4 is listed as
1101 (i.e., 0 – complemented and 1 – un-complemented )
₋ In List 1, there are 4 literals in each implicant (i.e., 4-L implicant)

Set 9 - Part 3 3
 Generation of prime implicants (contd.)

Once List 1 has been prepared,

List 1 • Combine implicants of one group
Minterm 𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖 with implicants in the preceding
# of 1’s (denoted by 4-L Implicants group that differ in one bit location
index 𝑖𝑖 only) only. (The resulting implicants have
0 0 0000 √ 3 literals each, corresponding to a
4 0100 √
rectangle covering two squares in
1 the K-map)
8 1000 √
• E.g., combine 0000 & 0100 and
10 1010 √
2 denote the resulting 3-L implicant as
12 1100 √
0x00
11 1011 √
3 • Enter all newly formed 3-L
13 1101 √
implicants in List 2 (see the 2nd next
4 15 1111 √
slide)
• 4-L implicants that are part of 3-L
implicants are checked off in List 1.

Set 9 - Part 3 4
 Generation of prime implicants (contd.)

List 2: The left column has combined minterms. The right column
shows corresponding implicants of 3 literals.

E.g., After combining implicants 0000 & 0100 (from List 1), we
denote the resulting 3-L implicant as 0x00 (right column of List 2).
Rationale: 𝑥𝑥1′ 𝑥𝑥2′ 𝑥𝑥3′ 𝑥𝑥4′ + 𝑥𝑥1′ 𝑥𝑥2 𝑥𝑥3′ 𝑥𝑥4′ = 𝑥𝑥1′ 𝑥𝑥3′ 𝑥𝑥4′ 𝑥𝑥2′ + 𝑥𝑥2 = 𝑥𝑥1′ 𝑥𝑥3′ 𝑥𝑥4′ =0x00

Set 9 - Part 3 5
 Generation of prime implicants (contd.)

List 2 Once List 2 has been prepared,

• Combine implicants of one group with
Combined
3-L implicants implicants in the preceding group that
minterms
differ in one bit location only, making
0,4 0x00 √ sure ‘x’s align. (Each resulting
0,8 x000 √ implicant has 2 literals, corresponding
8,10 10x0 to a rectangle covering four squares in
4,12 x100 √ the K-map)
8,12 1x00 √ • E.g., combine x000 & x100 and denote
10,11 101x the resulting 2-L implicant as xx00
12,13 110x • Enter all newly formed 2-L implicants
11,15 1x11 in List 3 (see the next slide)
13,15 11x1 • 3-L implicants that are part of 2-L
implincants are checked off in List 2 (in
this example, four 3-L implicants are
checked off)

Set 9 - Part 3 6
 Generation of prime implicants (contd.)
List 3: The left column has combined minterms. The right column
shows corresponding 2-L implicants. In this example, List 3 has only
one combined minterm and its implicant.
I.e, x000 and x100 from List 2 are combined and the resulting 2-L implicant is
xx00.
List 3 Once List 3 has been prepared,
• Combine 2-L implicants of one
Combined
2-L implicants group to the appropriate implicants
minterms
in the preceding group that differ in
0,4,8,12 xx00 one bit location only, making sure
‘x’s align. (In this example, we have
only one group and hence no
opportunities for combining)

Set 9 - Part 3 7
 Generation of prime implicants (contd.)

• Implicants of any size that are not checked off in any of the above
lists are the required prime implicants
• In our example, Lists 1, 2 and 3 have 0, 5 and 1 prime implicants,
respectively.
• These six prime implicants are reproduced below and denoted as
𝑝𝑝1 , … . , 𝑝𝑝6

𝑝𝑝1 =10x0
𝑝𝑝2 =101x
𝑝𝑝3 =110x
𝑝𝑝4 =1x11
𝑝𝑝5 =11x1
𝑝𝑝6 =xx00

Set 9 - Part 3 8
 Finding essential prime implicants
List all prime implicants (PI) and the minterms they cover; see the table
below, where there is a row for each PI and a column for each minterm.
(Here, exclude any don’t cares that you may have used in List 1 earlier).

Prime Minterms
• If there is a single
implicants 𝑚𝑚0 𝑚𝑚4 𝑚𝑚8 𝑚𝑚10 𝑚𝑚11 𝑚𝑚12 𝑚𝑚13 𝑚𝑚15 check mark in any
𝑝𝑝1 =10x0 √ √ column, the PI that
𝑝𝑝2 =101x √ √ covers the minterm is
an essential PI (EPI)
𝑝𝑝3 =110x √ √
• In our example, 𝑝𝑝6 is
𝑝𝑝4 =1x11 √ √ essential and is the
𝑝𝑝5 =11x1 √ √ only PI covering 𝑚𝑚0
𝑝𝑝6 =xx00 √ √ √ √ and 𝑚𝑚4

Next step is to remove the row(s) corresponding to EPIs and column(s)

covered by them (the resulting table is in the next slide)
Set 9 - Part 3 9
 Finding necessary non-EPIs

Minterms • Note that 𝑝𝑝1 covers only 𝑚𝑚10 while 𝑝𝑝2

PIs covers both 𝑚𝑚10 and 𝑚𝑚11 . (I.e., 𝑝𝑝2
𝑚𝑚10 𝑚𝑚11 𝑚𝑚13 𝑚𝑚15
dominates 𝑝𝑝1 - this is called a row
𝑝𝑝1 =10x0 √ dominance)
𝑝𝑝2 =101x √ √ • Since 𝑝𝑝1 and 𝑝𝑝2 have the same number
𝑝𝑝3 =110x √ of literals, we keep 𝑝𝑝2 and remove 𝑝𝑝1 for
𝑝𝑝4 =1x11 √ √ minimum-cost cover
• Similarly, we keep 𝑝𝑝5 and remove 𝑝𝑝3
𝑝𝑝5 =11x1 √ √
• The new list is shown in the next slide
After removal of EPI

Set 9 - Part 3 10
 Finding necessary non-EPIs (contd.)

Minterms • The table at the left indicates that we

PIs must choose 𝑝𝑝2 to cover 𝑚𝑚10 and 𝑝𝑝5 to
𝑚𝑚10 𝑚𝑚11 𝑚𝑚13 𝑚𝑚15
cover 𝑚𝑚13 (since other PI(s) in the table do
𝑝𝑝2 =101x √ √ not cover these minterms)
𝑝𝑝4 =1x11 √ √ • These two PIs also cover 𝑚𝑚11 & 𝑚𝑚15
𝑝𝑝5 =11x1 √ √ • So, the final cover is {𝑝𝑝2 , 𝑝𝑝5 , 𝑝𝑝6 }
After removal of dominated PIs

I.e., the minimum-cost implementation is

𝑓𝑓 = 𝑝𝑝2 + 𝑝𝑝5 + 𝑝𝑝6 = 𝑥𝑥1 𝑥𝑥2′ 𝑥𝑥3 + 𝑥𝑥1 𝑥𝑥2 𝑥𝑥4 + 𝑥𝑥3′ 𝑥𝑥4′

Set 9 - Part 3 11
 Finding necessary non-EPIs (contd.)
Another example (for finding necessary non-EPIs): Consider the following PI
cover table that does not have any EPIs
• Note that column 𝑚𝑚8 has check marks
Prime Minterms in the same row as col 𝑚𝑚9
implicants 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 • Col 𝑚𝑚9 has more check marks than col
0 2 5 6 7 8 9 13
𝑝𝑝1 =00x0 √ √
𝑚𝑚8 and hence col 𝑚𝑚9 dominates col
𝑚𝑚8
𝑝𝑝2 =0x10 √ √
• When a column dominates another,
𝑝𝑝3 =011x √ √ we can remove the dominating
𝑝𝑝4 =x00x √ √ √ column
𝑝𝑝5 =xx01 √ √ √ • In our case, remove col 𝑚𝑚9 (since PI
that covers col 𝑚𝑚8 also covers col 𝑚𝑚9 ).
𝑝𝑝6 =1x0x √ √ √
Similarly, remove col 𝑚𝑚13 (& keep 𝑚𝑚5 )
𝑝𝑝7 =x1x1 √ √ √ • [Note that this col removal process is
PI cover table (no EPI) opposite of that for rows, where we
remove dominated (rather than
dominating) rows]
Set 9 - Part 3 12
 Finding necessary non-EPIs (contd.)

Prime Minterms Prime Minterms

implicants 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 implicants 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚
0 2 5 6 7 8 0 2 5 6 7 8
𝑝𝑝1 =00x0 √ √ 𝑝𝑝1 =00x0 √ √
𝑝𝑝2 =0x10 √ √ 𝑝𝑝2 =0x10 √ √
𝑝𝑝3 =011x √ √ 𝑝𝑝3 =011x √ √
𝑝𝑝4 =x00x √ √ 𝑝𝑝4 =x00x √ √
𝑝𝑝5 =xx01 √ 𝑝𝑝7 =x1x1 √ √
𝑝𝑝6 =1x0x √ After removing rows 𝑝𝑝6 & 𝑝𝑝5
𝑝𝑝7 =x1x1 √ √
Table without col 𝑚𝑚9 & 𝑚𝑚13
• Now 𝑝𝑝4 and 𝑝𝑝7 are essential to
cover 𝑚𝑚8 & 𝑚𝑚5 , respectively. (By
definition, 𝑝𝑝4 & 𝑝𝑝7 are however
• Note that row 𝑝𝑝4 dominates row
not EPIs)
𝑝𝑝6 and similarly 𝑝𝑝7 does so 𝑝𝑝5
• Hence we can remove 𝑝𝑝4 & 𝑝𝑝7
• Hence we remove rows 𝑝𝑝6 & 𝑝𝑝5
and the minterms they cover
Set 9 - Part 3 13
 Finding necessary non-EPIs (contd.)

Prime Minterms
• Note that now 𝑝𝑝2 dominates
implicants
𝑚𝑚2 𝑚𝑚6 both 𝑝𝑝1 and 𝑝𝑝3
𝑝𝑝1 =00x0 √ • So, the final cover is {𝑝𝑝2 , 𝑝𝑝4 , 𝑝𝑝7 }
𝑝𝑝2 =0x10 √ √
𝑝𝑝3 =011x √
After including 𝑝𝑝4 & 𝑝𝑝7 in the cover

Set 9 - Part 3 14