Digital System Design

Unit – I / Minimization Techniques

& Logic Gates

Simplification of Boolean functions

by Karnaugh Map and Tabulation
Method
 Introduction
• Although the truth table representation of a function is unique,
when expressed algebraically, it can appear in many different
form.
• Boolean functions may be simplified by algebraic means.
• How ever, this procedure of minimization is difficult because it
takes specific rules to predict each succeeding step in the
manipulative process.
• The map method provides a simple straight forward procedure for
minimizing Boolean functions.
 Karnaugh Map (K-Map)
• A K-Map is a graphical representation of a truth table that can be
used to reduce a logic circuit to its simplest terms.
• The Karnaugh map uses a rectangle divided
into rows and columns.
• Any product term in the expression to
be simplified can be represented as the intersection of a
row and a column.
• The rows and columns are labeled with each term in the expression
and its complement.
• The labels must be arranged so that each
horizontal or vertical move changes the state of one and
only one variable.
 Two variable K-
Map
y
0 1 y 0 1
x
x

0 x’y’ x’y 0 m0 m1

xy’ xy m2 m3
1 1
Three variable K-Map
yz
00 01 11 10
x
0 x’y’z’ x’y’z x’yz x’yz’

xy’z’ xy'z xyz xyz’

1

yz
x 00 01 11 10

0 m0 m1 m3 m2

m4 m5 m7 m6
1
 Four variable K-Map
yz
wx 00 01 11 10

00 m0 m1 m3 m2

01 m4 m5 m7 m6

11 m12 m13 m15 m14

10 m8 m9
m11 m10
 Four variable K-Map
yz
wx 00 01 11 10

00 w’x’y’z’ w’x’y’z w’x’yz w’x’yz’

01 w’xy’z’ w’xy’z w’xyz w’xyz’

11 wxy’z’ wxy’z wxyz wxyz’

10 wx’ y’z’ wx’ y’z wx’yz wx’yz’

Simplification Using the K-Map

• Look for adjacent squares.

• Adjacent squares are those squares where
only one variable changes as one moves from a
square to another.
• Group adjacent squares in powers of
two, i.e. pairs, quads, groups of eight, groups of
16, etc.
• Principle 1. “The more, the merrier.”
Hence, a quad is better than a pair.
• Principle 2. Share group elements only when necessary to form
another or bigger group.
f(A,B) = ∑m(1,2,3)
f(A,B) = ∑m(0,1)
f(x1,x2,x3) = ∑m(0,1,2,3,6)

f(x1,x2,x3) = ∑m(2,3,4,6)
f(x1,x2,x3,x4,x5) = ∑m(6,7,8,9,12,13,18,22,23,24,25,28,29)
f(a,b,c,d,e) = ∑m(0,2,6,8,9,10,11,18,22,26,24,25,27,30)
 POS Simplification
Simplify the function f(A,B,C,D)=Σ(0,1,2,5,8,9,10) in sum of
products and product of sums.

00 01 11 10 0001 11 10

00 1 1 1 00 1 1 0 1

01 1 01 0 1 0 0

11 11 0 0 0 0

10 1 1 1 10 1 1 0 1
POS Simplification
00 01 11 10

00 0

01 0 0 0

11 0 0 0 0

10 0

f‘(A,B,C,D)=AB+CD+BD
’

f(A,B,C,D)=(A’+B’)
(C’+D’)(B’+D)
Minimize the following Boolean functions by K-Map