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Chapter 6

This document discusses Boolean algebra and Boolean functions. It introduces Boolean operations like complementation, summation and multiplication. It provides examples of translating between Boolean expressions and logical equivalences. The document also covers topics like Boolean functions, sum-of-products expansions, and logic gates.

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SULTAN Sksa
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22 views

Chapter 6

This document discusses Boolean algebra and Boolean functions. It introduces Boolean operations like complementation, summation and multiplication. It provides examples of translating between Boolean expressions and logical equivalences. The document also covers topics like Boolean functions, sum-of-products expansions, and logic gates.

Uploaded by

SULTAN Sksa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 6

Boolean Algebra
Introduction
Boolean algebra provides the operations and the rules
for working with the set {0, 1}. Electronic
and optical switches can be studied using this set and
the rules of Boolean algebra. The three
operations in Boolean algebra that we will use most
are complementation, the Boolean sum, and
the Boolean product. The complement of an element,
denoted with a bar, is defined by 0 = 1
and 1 = 0. The Boolean sum, denoted by + or by OR,
has the following values:
1 + 1 = 1,
1 + 0 = 1,
0 + 1 = 1,
0 + 0 = 0.
The Boolean product, denoted by · or by AND, has the
following values:
1 · 1 = 1,
1 · 0 = 0,
0 · 1 = 0,
0 · 0 = 0.
When there is no danger of confusion, the symbol ·
can be deleted, just as in writing algebraic
products. Unless parentheses are used, the rules of
precedence for Boolean operators are: first,
all complements are computed, followed by all
Boolean products, followed by all Boolean sums.
This is illustrated in Example 1.
EXAMPLE 1
Find the value of 1 · 0 +¯ (0 + 1).
Solution: Using the definitions of complementation,
the Boolean sum, and the Boolean product,
it follows that
1 · 0 + (0 + 1) = 0 + 1
=0+0
▲
example12 find the value of 1.0 + ¯0 +¯1

example 13 find the value of ¯(1.0+¯ (0 + 1))


propositional logic.
EXAMPLE 2
Translate 1 · 0 + ¯ (0 + 1) = 0, the equality found in
Example 1, into a logical equivalence.
Solution: We obtain a logical equivalence when we
translate each 1 into a T, each 0 into
an F, each Boolean sum into a disjunction, each
Boolean product into a conjunction, and each
complementation into a negation. We obtain
(T ∧ F) ∨ ¬(T ∨ F) ≡ F.
▲
translate also equality of the example 12 and example
13
EXAMPLE 3
Example 3 illustrates the translation from
propositional logic to Boolean algebra.
Translate the logical equivalence (T ∧ T) ∨ ¬F ≡ T
into an identity in Boolean algebra.
Solution: We obtain an identity in Boolean algebra
when we translate each T into a 1, each F
into a 0, each disjunction into a Boolean sum, each
conjunction into a Boolean product, and
each negation into a complementation. We obtain
(1 · 1) + ¯0 = 1.
▲
1,we can translate many propositions
2, verify the equality by translation into an identity in Boolean algebra
Boolean Expressions and Boolean Functions :
Let B = {0, 1}. Then B n = {(x1 , x2, . . . , xn ) | xi ∈
B for 1 ≤ i ≤ n} is the set of all possible
n-tuples of 0s and 1s. The variable x is called a
Boolean variable if it assumes values only
from B, that is, if its only possible values are 0 and 1.
A function from B n to B is called a
Boolean function of degree n.
The function F (x, y) = x.¯y from the set of ordered
pairs of Boolean variables to the set {0, 1} is
a Boolean function of degree 2 with F (1, 1) = 0, F (1,
0) = 1, F (0, 1) = 0, and F (0, 0) = 0.
We display these values of F in Table 1.
▲

EXAMPLE 5
Find the values of the Boolean function represented
by F (x, y, z) = xy + ¯z.
Solution: The values of this function are displayed in
Table 2.
A Boolean function of degree two is a function from
a set with four elements, namely,
pairs of elements from B = {0, 1}, to B, a set with two
elements. Hence, there are 16 different
Boolean functions of degree two. In Table 3 we
display the values of the 16 different Boolean
functions of degree two, labeled F1 , F2 , . . . , F16.
EXAMPLE 7
How many different Boolean functions of degree n are
there?
Solution: From the product rule for counting, it
follows that there are 2^n different n-tuples
of 0s and 1s. Because a Boolean function is an
assignment of 0 or 1 to each of these 2^n different
n-tuples, the product rule shows that there are 2^ 2^n
different Boolean functions of degree n.
▲
EXAMPLE 9
Translate the distributive law x + yz = (x + y)(x + z)
in Table 5 into a logical equivalence.
Solution: To translate a Boolean identity into a logical
equivalence, we change each Boolean
variable into a propositional variable. Here we will
change the Boolean variables x, y, and z into
the propositional variables p, q, and r. Next, we
change each Boolean sum into a disjunction and
each Boolean product into a conjunction. (Note that 0
and 1 do not appear in this identity and
complementation also does not appear.) This
transforms the Boolean identity into the logical
equivalence
p ∨ (q ∧ r) ≡ (p ∨ q) ∧ (p ∨ r).
This logical equivalence is one of the distributive laws
for propositional logic in Table 6 in
Section 1.3.
▲

Identities in Boolean algebra can be used to prove


further identities. We demonstrate this
in Example 10.
EXAMPLE 10
Prove the absorption law x(x + y) = x using the other
identities of Boolean algebra shown in
Table 5. (This is called an absorption law because
absorbing x + y into x leaves x unchanged.)

Solution: We display steps used to derive this identity


and the law used in each step:
x(x + y) = (x + 0)(x + y)
=x+0·y
=x+y·0
=x+0
=x
Duality

The identities in Table 5 come in pairs (except for the


law of the double complement and the unit
and zero properties). To explain the relationship
between the two identities in each pair we use
the concept of a dual. The dual of a Boolean
expression is obtained by interchanging Boolean
sums and Boolean products and interchanging 0s
and 1s.

Example 1 :

Find the duals of x(y + 0) and x · 1 + (y + z).


Solution: Interchanging · signs and + signs and
interchanging 0s and 1s in these expressions
produces their duals. The duals are x + (y · 1) and (x +
0)(yz), respectively.
▲

example 2 :

Construct an identity from the absorption law x(x + y)


= x by taking duals.
The Abstract Definition of a Boolean Algebra

Representing Boolean Functions :

Sum-of-Products Expansions

example/

Find Boolean expressions that represent the functions


F (x, y, z) and G(x, y, z), which are given
in Table .
Solution: An expression that has the value 1 when x =
z = 1 and y = 0, and the value 0 other-
wise, is needed to represent F . Such an expression
can be formed by taking the Boolean product
of x, y, and z. This product, xyz, has the value 1 if and
only if x = y = z = 1, which holds if
and only if x = z = 1 and y = 0.
To represent G, we need an expression that equals 1
when x = y = 1 and z = 0, or x = z =
0 and y = 1. We can form an expression with these
values by taking the Boolean sum of two
different Boolean products. The Boolean product xyz
has the value 1 if and only if x = y = 1
and z = 0. Similarly, the product xyz has the value 1 if
and only if x = z = 0 and y = 1. The
Boolean sum of these two products, xyz + xyz,
represents G, because it has the value 1 if and
only if x = y = 1 and z = 0, or x = z = 0 and y = 1.

example 2

Find the sum-of-products expansion for the function F


(x, y, z) = (x + y) ¯z.
Logic Gates :

example
example :

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