Fergusson College (Autonomous)

F.Y. B. Sc. (Computer Science)

2020-21

Electronics Paper – I (ELC 1101)

Fundamentals of Logic Circuit Design
Unit – 3
Boolean Algebra
 Boolean Algebra

Contents:

 Rules and laws of Boolean algebra,

 Logic expression,

 De Morgan’s theorems, their proof, (Covered already)

 Sum of products form (min terms),

 Product of sum form (max terms),

 Simplification of Boolean expressions using Boolean
algebra and Karnaugh map up to 4 variables.
 Introduction to Boolean Algebra
Boolean Algebra is used to analyze and simplify the digital (logic) circuits.
It uses only the binary numbers i.e. 0 and 1. It is also called as Binary
Algebra or logical Algebra. Boolean algebra was invented by George
Boole in 1854.

Rule in Boolean Algebra

Following are the important rules used in Boolean algebra.
 Variable used can have only two values. Binary 1 for HIGH and Binary 0 for
LOW.
 Complement of a variable is represented by an overbar (-). Thus,
complement of variable B is represented as B or B’. Thus if B = 0
then B = 1 and if B = 1 then B = 0.

 ORing of the variables is represented by a plus (+) sign between them. For
example ORing of A, B, C is represented as A + B + C.

 Logical ANDing of the two or more variable is represented by writing a dot

between them such as A.B.C. Sometime the dot may be omitted like ABC.
 Boolean Laws
There are six types of Boolean Laws.
Commutative law
Any binary operation which satisfies the following expression is referred
to as commutative operation.
(i) A . B = B.A
(ii) A+B = B+A
Commutative law states that changing the sequence of the variables
does not have any effect on the output of a logic circuit.
Associative law
This law states that the order in which the logic operations are
performed is irrelevant as their effect is the same.
(i) (A.B).C = A.(B.C)
(ii) (A+B)+C = A+(B+C)
Distributive law
Distributive law states the following condition.
A.(B+C) = A.B + A.C
AND law
These laws use the AND operation. Therefore they are called
as AND laws.
A B Y
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
OR law
These laws use the OR operation. Therefore they are called
as OR laws. A B Y
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1
INVERSION law
This law uses the NOT operation. The inversion law states that
double inversion of a variable results in the original variable itself.
Other Important Rules:
 How to convert a gate circuit to a Boolean expression?

The “A,” “B,” and “C” input signals are assumed to be provided from switches,
sensors, or perhaps other gate circuits.

Write down the Boolean expression for above logic circuit.

start by writing sub-expressions at the output of each gate, corresponding to the
respective input signals for each gate.
 Simplification Of Logic Circuits Using Boolean Laws
From previous diagram we have a Boolean expression to work with, we need
to apply the rules of Boolean algebra to reduce the expression to its simplest
form (simplest defined as requiring the fewest gates to implement):

The final expression, B(A + C), is much simpler than the original, yet performs
the same function. The simplified circuit diagram is shown below.
Thus,

Is equivalent to
Practice Problems:
Draw the logic gate circuit for the following functions:

1.

2. Use Boolean algebra to simplify the following expression, then draw a logic
gate circuit for the simplified expression:
2. A(B+AB)+AC

3. A+AB
4. (A+B) ( ¯A + ¯B)

5.

6. Use Boolean algebra to simplify the following logic gate circuit:

Representation of Boolean expression can be primarily done in two ways. They are as
follows:
1. Sum of Products (SOP) form
2. Product of Sums (POS) form

The Sum of Product (SOP) expression consists of two or more products (AND) are
summed (OR) together.
That is the outputs from two or more AND gates are connected to the input of
an OR gate so that they are effectively OR’ed together to create the final AND-OR
logical output.

Sum of Product Expression Examples:

1. Q = (A.B) + (B.C) + (A.1)
2. Q= (A.B.C) + (A.C) + (B.C) + (A.D)
The product terms are also called as ‘min terms’.
Min terms are represented with ‘m’, they are the product(AND operation) of Boolean
variables either in normal form or complemented form.
Each min term is represented by a binary word formed by representing the
non-complemented variable by a 1 and the complemented variable by 0.
A min term is a Boolean expression resulting in 1 at the output.
 SOP Circuit Realization

SOP
POS (Product of Sums) is the representation of the Boolean function in which
the variables are first summed (OR) , and then the Boolean product (AND) is
applied in the sum terms.

That is the outputs from two or more OR gates are connected to the input of
an AND gate so that they are effectively AND’ed together to create the final
OR - AND logical output.

For example: Product of Sum Expressions

Q = (A + B).(B + C).(A + 1)
Q= (A + B + C).(A + C).(B + C)

Each sum term in the POS form is called a max term.

POS Circuit Realization
 Standard SOP expression for a given Truth Table
1. Consider only those combination of inputs which corresponds to O/P Y = 1.
2. Write down the product term for each combination.
3. OR all these product terms to get the standard SOP.
From the truth table given below obtain the SOP.
A B Y
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
Solution:
A B Y
0 0 0
0 1 1 Boolean expressions in
1 0 1 product forms
1 1 0
Now OR the product expressions. Hence,
Y = Y1 + Y2
 Simplification Techniques for Boolean Expressions
Following techniques can be used for the simplification of Boolean expressions:
1. Algebraic simplification

2. Simplification using Karnaugh Map

Karnaugh Mapping:
 Karnaugh mapping is a graphic technique for reducing a Sum-of-Products
(SOP) expression to its minimum form.
• Two, three and four variable k-maps will have 4, 8 and 16 cells respectively.
• Each cell of the k-map corresponds to a particular combination of the
input variable and between adjacent cells only one variable is allowed to
change from complement to un-complement form or un-complement to
complement form.

Use the following steps to reduce an expression using a k-map.

1. Use the rules of Boolean Algebra to change the expression to a SOP
expression.
2. Mark each term of the SOP expression in the correct cell of the k-map.
3. Circle adjacent cells in groups of 2, 4 or 8 making the circles as large as
possible. (NO DIAGONALS!)
4. Write a term for each circle in a final SOP expression. The variables in a
term are the ones that remain constant across a circle.
5. K map must be plotted so that all combinations of the variables are
covered.
 Two Variable K Map-

• Two variable K Map is drawn for a Boolean expression consisting of two

variables.
• The number of cells present in two variable K Map = 22 = 4 cells.
• So, for a Boolean function consisting of two variables, we draw a
2 x 2 K Map.

Two variable K Map may be represented as-

 Three Variable K - Map

Three variable K Map is drawn for a Boolean expression consisting of three

variables.
The number of cells present in three variable K Map = 23 = 8 cells.
So, for a Boolean function consisting of three variables, we draw a 2 x 4 K Map.
Three variable K Map may be represented as-
Four Variable K Map-

Four variable K Map is drawn for a boolean expression consisting of four

variables.
The number of cells present in four variable K Map = 24 = 16 cells.
So, for a boolean function consisting of four variables, we draw a 4 x 4 K Map.

Four variable K Map may be represented as-

Rules For Solving K-Map
Rule-01:
We can either group 0’s with 0’s or 1’s with 1’s but we can not group 0’s and
1’s together. ‘X’ represent don’t care, can be grouped with 0’s or 1’s.
Rule-02:
Groups may overlap each other.
Rule-03:
We can only create a group whose number of cells can be represented in the
power of 2. In other words, a group can only contain 2n i.e. 1, 2(pair), 4(quad),
8(octet) etc.
Example:
Rule-04:

Groups can be only either horizontal or vertical.

We can not create groups of diagonal or any other shape.

Rule-05:
Each group should be as large as possible.
Example-
Rule-06:

Opposite grouping and corner grouping are allowed (rolled cells).

The example of opposite grouping (rolled cells) is shown as illustrated in Rule-05.
The example of corner grouping is shown below.

Example-
PROBLEMS BASED ON KARNAUGH MAP( K map)-

Problem-01:
Minimize the following Boolean function-
F(A, B, C, D) = Σm(0, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15)
Solution-
Since the given Boolean expression has 4 variables, so 4 x 4 K Map has
drawn.
Fill the cells of K Map in accordance with the given boolean function.
Then, form the groups in accordance with the rules which gives.
In this K map 3 quads are formed
1. With cell numbers – 5, 7, 13, 15
2. With cell numbers – 1, 6, 13, 9
3. With cell numbers – 0, 2, 8, 10

1st quad eliminates C & A leaving term BD

2nd quad eliminates A & B leaving term C’D
3rd quad eliminates C & A leaving term B’D’

Thus, minimized Boolean expression will be

F(A, B, C, D) = BD + C’D + B’D’

Problem-02:
Minimize the following Boolean function-
F(A, B, C, D) = Σm(0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15)
Solution-
Since the given Boolean expression has 4 variables, so we draw a 4 x 4 K Map.
We fill the cells of K Map in accordance with the given Boolean function.
Then, we form the groups in accordance with the rules of K map which gives -

In this K map one octet and one quad

has form

1. The quad eliminates two variables

A & D leaving B’C’ term.

2. The octet eliminates three

variables A, B & C leaving D term.

Thus, minimized boolean expression

will be –

F(A, B, C, D) = B’C’ + D
Problem-03:

Minimize the following Boolean function-

F(A, B, C, D) = Σm(1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15) + Σd(0, 2, 14)
Solution-
Since the given Boolean expression has 4 variables, so we draw a 4 x 4 K Map.
We fill the cells of K Map in accordance with the given Boolean function.
Then, we form the groups in accordance with the rules of K map which gives -

Thus, minimized boolean expression

is-
F(A, B, C, D) = AD + B’D + B’C’ + A’D’
Problem-04:
Minimize the following Boolean function-
F(A, B, C) = Σm(0, 1, 6, 7) + Σd(3, 5)
Solution-
Since the given Boolean expression has 3 variables, so we draw a 2 x 4 K Map.
We fill the cells of K Map in accordance with the given Boolean function.
Then, we form the groups in accordance with the rules of K map which gives.

Thus, minimized Boolean expression is-

F(A, B, C) = AB + A’B’
Problem-05:

Minimize the following boolean function-

F(A, B, C, D) = Σm(3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 13, 14, 15)

Solution-

Since the given boolean expression has 4 variables, so we draw a 4 x 4 K Map.

We fill the cells of K Map in accordance with the given boolean function.
Then, we form the groups in accordance with the rules of K map which gives -

Thus, minimized boolean expression is-

F(A, B, C, D) = A’BC’ + A’CD + AC’D + ABC

Long answer type questions ( 5 Marks each)
1. Draw the logic circuit for Y = AB’C + ABC. Simplify the expression by laws of
Boolean algebra and draw the simplified logic circuit.
2. Explain 4 variable K map and simplification of Boolean expression using K map.
3. Draw the K map using following truth table and obtain the simplified Boolean
expression.

A B C D Y
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 1 0
0 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 1 0
0 1 1 0 1
0 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 0 1
1 0 0 1 1
1 0 1 0 1
1 0 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 1
1 1 0 1 1
1 1 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 1
Short answer type questions ( 3 Marks each)
1. Draw the logic circuit for Y = AB’C + ABC.+ A’BC + ABC’
2. Write the Cumulative and Associative laws of Boolean Algeb.
3. What are AND and OR laws of Boolean Algebra?
4. Write the truth table of function F(A, B, C, D) = Σm(0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15)
5. Draw the K map for the function F(A, B, C, D) = Σm(1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13)
6. Explain Sum of Product and Product of Sum form of the Boolean expressions.

Fill in the blanks (1 Mark each)

1. The logic circuit for Sum of product Boolean expression uses -------- and -----
logic gates.
2. According to Boolean Algebra if ‘A’ is one of the inputs then A.1 = -------
3. Boolean expression for output of four input AND gate is ______
4. --------- AND gate/s are required to convert Boolean expression Y = ABC + A’BC
into its equivalent logic circuit.
5. Four variable K map include ----------- cells.
6. While simplifying 3 variable K map, a formed Quad eliminates -----------
variable/s
7. The terms of Sum of Product expression are known as ---------- terms.(Max /
Min)
8. If P=0, Q=0 and R = 0 then the max term representing PQR is --------.
9. Max term is the term of ----- Boolean expression (SOP / POS)
10. only one AND is used in the conversion of POS expression to its equivalent
logic circuit. (True / False)