SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Logic Design & Switching Theory

Faculty of Engineering - UCP

Prof. Mohammad Salman Aslam

Faculty of Engineering
University of Central Punjab

Lecture No: 7
Obtaining SOP & POS Expressions from
Truth Tables & their Conversion
 Sum of Product (SOP) & Product of Sum (POS)
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Expressions - Introduction
 Sum of Product(SOP)
Sum of Product(SOP) also known as minterm can be defined
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as any mathematical expression in which an addition operator

is applied to two or more subexpressions each of which is an
application of a multiplication operator.
e.g. ab+cd
 Product of Sum(POS)
Product of Sum(SOP) also known as maxterm can be defined
as any mathematical expression in which multiplication
operator is applied to two or more subexpressions each of
which is an application of a addition operator.
e.g. (a+b).(c+d) 2
 Sum of Product (SOP) & Product of Sum (POS)
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Expressions - Introduction
 As the values of a Boolean funtion using Truth Tables can be
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easily found out, therefore there are ways to convert results of

a Truth Table to a Boolean function. But before getting fully
into this, lets look at couple of terms:
 Standard Forms
 A Boolean function can be written several different ways.
They however will always include product terms or sum
terms. An example of a product term is ABC. This consists of
an AND operation. A sum term may look like A + B + C
which consists of an OR operation. Keep in mind these are
not ordinary arithmetic operations but logical operations.
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 Sum of Product (SOP) & Product of Sum (POS)
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Expressions - Introduction
 To facilitate the simplification of Boolean expressions, we will
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attempt to design functions that consist of only product terms

or only sum terms. This is not always possible. Therefore
when both sums and products must be used, we will use either
• Products of sum terms (Product of Sums form) or (POS)
• Sums of product terms (Sum of Products form) or (SOP)
 An example of a product of sums (POS)
(A + B + C).(A' + B).(A' +C') (Product of Sum)

 An example of a sum of products (SOP)

A'BC + AC + BC‘ (Sum of Product)
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterm & Maxterm expressions - Introduction

Definitions (SOP)
Literal: Variable or complement of a variable. e.g.(A’BC)
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Product Term: A single literal or a product (AND) of 2 or more

literals.
Sum of Products: Logical sum (OR) of product terms.
Normal Product Term: Product term with no repeated variables.
Minterm over N Variables: Normal product term with N
variables. e.g. suppose we have 3 variables
Canonical Sum Of Products: Sum of unique minterms.

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterm & Maxterm expressions - Introduction

Minterm
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• A product term is a term where literals are ANDed.

• Example: x’y’, xz, xyz, …
• A minterm is a product term in which all variables appear
exactly once, in normal or complemented form
• Example: F(x,y,z) has 8 minterms: x’y’z’, x’y’z, x’yz’, ...
• In general, a function with n variables has 2n minterms
• A minterm equals 1 at exactly one input combination and is
equal to 0 otherwise
• Example: x’y’z’ = 1 only when x=0, y=0, z=0
• A minterm is denoted as mi where i corresponds the input
combination at which this minterm is equal to 1
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterm & Maxterm expressions - Introduction

Minterm
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mi indicated the ith minterm

i indicates the binary combination
mi is equal to 1 for ONLY THAT combination
Variable complemented if 0
Variable uncomplemented if 1 7
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterm & Maxterm expressions - Introduction

Maxterm
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• A sum term is a term where literals are ORed.

• Example: x’+y’, x+z, x+y+z, …
• A maxterm is a sum term in which all variables appear
exactly once, in normal or complemented form
• Example: F(x,y,z) has 8 maxterms: (x+y+z), (x+y+z’),
(x+y’+z), ...
• In general, a function with n variables has 2n maxterms
• A maxterm equals 0 at exactly one input combination and
is equal to 1 otherwise
• Example: (x+y+z) = 0 only when x=0, y=0, z=0
• A maxterm is denoted as Mi where i corresponds the input
combination at which this maxterm is equal to 0 8
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterm & Maxterm expressions - Introduction

Maxterm
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Mi indicated the ith maxterm

i indicates the binary combination
Variable complemented if 1 Mi is equal to 0 for ONLY THAT combination
Variable not complemented if 0
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Expressing functions with Minterms

• A Boolean function can be expressed algebraically from
a give truth table by forming the logical sum (OR) of
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ALL the minterms that produce 1 in the function

Example: X Y Z m F
0 0 0 m0 1
Consider the function defined by the 0 0 1 m1 0
0 1 0 m2 1
truth table. It may be represent in either 0 1 1 m3 0
form. 1 0 0 m4 0
1 0 1 m5 1
F(X,Y,Z) = X’Y’Z’ + X’YZ’ + XY’Z + XYZ 1 1 0 m6 0
1 1 1 m7 1
= m0 + m 2 + m5 + m 7
= ∑m(0,2,5,7)
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Expressing functions with Maxterms

• A Boolean function can be expressed algebraically from a
give truth table by forming the logical product (AND) of
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ALL the maxterms that produce 0 in the function

Example:
X Y Z M F F’
Consider the function defined by the 0 0 0 M0 1 0
truth table F(X,Y,Z) =  M(1,3,4,6) 0 0 1 M1 0 1
Applying DeMorgan 0 1 0 M2 1 0
0 1 1 M3 0 1
F’ = m1 + m3 + m4 + m6 1 0 0 M4 0 1
= ∑m(1,3,4,6) 1 0 1 M5 1 0

F = F’’ = [m1 + m3 + m4 + m6] ’

1 1 0 M6 0 1
1 1 1 M7 1 0
= m1’.m3’.m4’.m6’
Note the indices in this list are those that are
= M1.M3.M4.M6 =  M(1,3,4,6) missing from the previous list in Sm(0,2,5,7)
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Sum of Minterms vs. Product of Maxterms

• A Boolean function can be expressed algebraically as:
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• The sum of minterms (SOP)

• The product of maxterms (POS)
• Given the truth table, writing F as
• ∑mi – for all minterms that produce 1 in the table,
or
• Mi – for all maxterms that produce 0 in the table
• Minterms and Maxterms are complement of each
other.

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Sum of Minterms vs. Product of Maxterms

Example
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• Write E = Y’ + X’Z’ in the

form of ∑mi and Mi?
X Y Z m M E
0 0 0 m0 M0 1
• Solution: Method1 0 0 1 m1 M1 1
First construct the Truth Table 0 1 0 m2 M2 1
as shown 0 1 1 m3 M3 0
Second: 1 0 0 m4 M4 1
1 0 1 m5 M5 1
E = ∑m(0,1,2,4,5), and 1 1 0 m6 M6 0
E = M(3,6,7) 1 1 1 m7 M7 0

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Sum of Minterms vs. Product of Maxterms

Example (Cont.)
Solution: Method 2_a Solution: Method 2_b
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E = Y’ + X’Z’ E = Y’ + X’Z’
= Y’(X+X’)(Z+Z’) + X’Z’(Y+Y’) E’ = Y(X+Z)
= (XY’+X’Y’)(Z+Z’) + X’YZ’+X’Z’Y’ = YX + YZ
= XY’Z+X’Y’Z+XY’Z’+X’Y’Z’+ = YX(Z+Z’) + YZ(X+X’)
X’YZ’+X’Z’Y’ = XYZ+XYZ’+X’YZ
= m5 + m1 + m4 + m0 + m2 + m0 E = (X’+Y’+Z’)(X’+Y’+Z)(X+Y’+Z’)
= m0 + m1 + m2 + m4 + m5 = M7 . M6 . M3
= ∑m(0,1,2,4,5) = M(3,6,7)
To find the form Mi, consider To find the form ∑mi, consider the
the remaining indices remaining indices
E = M(3,6,7) E = ∑m(0,1,2,4,5)
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Sum of Minterms vs. Product of Maxterms

Another Example
Question: F (a, b, c, d) = ∑m(0,1,2,4,5,7), What are the minterms
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and maxterms of F and and its complement F?

Solution: F has 4 variables; 24 = 16 possible minterms/maxterms

F (a, b, c, d) = ∑m(0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7)
= Π M(3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)

F (a, b, c, d) = ∑m(3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)

= Π M(0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7)

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Canonical forms of Boolean Equations

 The sum of minterms and the product of maxterms forms
are known as the canonical forms of a function.
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Standard forms of Boolean Equations

 Sum of Products (SOP) and Product of Sums (POS) are
also standard forms
AB + CD = (A + C)(B + C)(A + D)(B + D)
 The sum of minterms is a special case of the SOP form,
where all product terms are minterms
• The product of maxterms is a special case of the POS form,
where all sum terms are maxterms
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

SOP and POS Equation Conversions

SOP  POS POS  SOP
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F = AB + CD F = (A’+B)(A’+C)(C+D)
= (AB+C)(AB+D) = (A’+BC)(C+D)
= (A+C)(B+C)(AB+D) = A’C+A’D+BCC+BCD
= (A+C)(B+C)(A+D)(B+D) = A’C+A’D+BC+BCD
= A’C+A’D+BC
Hint 1: Use id 15:
Hint 1: Use id 15
X+YZ=(X+Y)(X+Z)
(X+Y)(X+Z)=X+YZ
Hint 2: Factor
Hint 2: Multiply
Question1: How to convert SOP to sum of minterms?
Question2: How to convert POS to product of maxterms? 17
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterm expressions - Introduction

 In a truth table, a product term where all the variables appear
exactly once either complemented or uncomplemented is called a
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minterm. The literals are complemented if the corresponding bit of

the binary combination is 0, the literals are uncomplemented if the
corresponding bit of the binary combination is 1. For example in a
truth table with 2 variables:

We often designate the minterms with the symbols m0, m1, m2, m3,
Where the i in "mi" corresponds with the decimal equivalent of the
binary number expressed by the variables. That is m2 represents XY'.
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Maxterm expressions - Introduction

 Maxterms on the other hand are sum terms where all of the
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variables appear exactly once, complemented or uncomplemented.

But here, the literals are complemented if the corresponding
binary bit is 1, and uncomplemented if the corresponding binary
bit is 0. (Opposite of minterms). For example, a truth table with
two variables:

 We will often use M0, M1, M2, M3 to represent maxterms,

where the i in "Mi“ behaves the same was as i in "mi" from
minterms. That is M2, represents X'+Y. 19
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterm & Maxterm expressions - Introduction

Example below Shown the Process
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 The function F can be defined as the logical product of all of

the maxterms in the truth table for which F = 0. That is in the
truth table shown ( ) F = M1 • M2
 Staying with the example , we will often
often write something like
F(A,B) = M(1,2)
 where the A & B in F(A,B) refer to the variables, is to mean
logical product, and the 1 & 2 in M(1,2) refer to the decimal
equivalents of AB where F = 0.
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterm & Maxterm expressions - Introduction

 Minterms and Maxterms

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 Any boolean expression may be expressed in terms of either minterms or

maxterms. To do this we must first define the concept of a literal. A
literal is a single variable within a term which may or may not be
complemented. For an expression with N variables, minterms and
maxterms are defined as follows :
 A minterm is the product of N distinct literals where each literal
occurs exactly once.
 A maxterm is the sum of N distinct literals where each literal
occurs exactly once.
 This allows us to represent expressions in either Sum of Products
or Product of Sums forms

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterms & Maxterms Expressions

 For a two-variable expression, the minterms and

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maxterms are as follows

X Y Minterm Maxterm
0 0 X’ • Y’ X+Y
0 1 X’ • Y X + Y’
1 0 X • Y’ X’ + Y
1 1 X•Y X’ + Y’

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Minterms & Maxterms Expressions

 For a three-variable expression, the minterms and
maxterms are as follows
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X Y Z Minterm Maxterm
0 0 0 X’ • Y’ • Z’ X+Y+Z
0 0 1 X’ • Y’ • Z X + Y + Z’
0 1 0 X’ • Y • Z’ X + Y’ + Z
0 1 1 X’ • Y • Z X + Y’ + Z’
1 0 0 X • Y’ • Z’ X’ + Y + Z
1 0 1 X • Y’ • Z X’ + Y + Z’
1 1 0 X • Y • Z’ X’ + Y’ + Z
1 1 1 X•Y•Z X’ + Y’ + Z’ 23
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

SOP & POS Expressions

 SUM-OF-PRODUCTS FORM
The Sum of Products form represents an expression as a sum of minterms.
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F(X, Y, ...) = Sum (ak.mk)

where ak is 0 or 1 and mk is a minterm.
 To derive the Sum of Products form from a truth table, OR together all of
the minterms which give a value of 1.
 Some of the examples of sum-of-products (SOP) are:
ABC+ABC
AB+ABC+CD+D
 Each of these sum-of-products expressions consists of two or more AND
terms (products) that are ORed together. Each AND term consists of one
or more variables individually appearing in either complemented or
uncomplemented form. 24
SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

SOP & POS Expressions

 Example – SOP: Consider the truth table
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X Y F Minterm
0 0 0 X’ • Y’
0 1 0 X’ • Y
1 0 1 X • Y’
1 1 1 X•Y

Here SOP equation is f (x, y) = X • Y’ + X • Y

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

SOP & POS Expressions

 The Product of Sums form represents an expression as a
product of maxterms.
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F(X, Y, .......) = Product (bk + Mk), where bk is 0 or 1 and

Mk is a maxterm.
To derive the Product of Sums form from a truth table,
AND together all of the maxterms which give a value of 0.
 Product-of-sums (POS) consists of two or more OR terms
that are ANDed together. Each OR term contains one or more
variables complemented or uncomplemented form. Here are
some Product-of-sums expressions:
 (A+B+C)(A+C)
 (A+B)(C+D)F
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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

SOP & POS Expressions

 Example – SOP: Consider the truth table
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X Y F Maxterm
0 0 1 X+Y
0 1 0 X + Y’
1 0 1 X’ + Y
1 1 1 X’ + Y’

Here POS equation is F (X, Y) = (X + Y’)

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

SOP & POS Expressions

 Example: Show that X.Y.Z' + X'.Y.Z' + Y.Z = Y

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X.Y.Z' + X'.Y.Z' + Y.Z = Y.Z' + Y.Z = Y

 Example: Show that (X.Y' + Z).(X + Y).Z = X.Z + Y.Z
= (X.Y' + Z).(X + Y).Z
= (X.Y' + Z.X + Y'.Z).Z
= X.Y'Z + Z.X + Y'.Z
= Z.(X.Y' + X + Y')
= Z.(X+Y')

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Implementation of Sum Of Product (SOP)

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 Any SOP expression can be

implemented using 2-levels of
gates
 The 1st level consists of AND
gates, and the 2nd level consists
of a single OR gate
 Also called 2-level Circuit

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Implementation of Product Of Sum (POS)

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 Any POS expression can be

implemented using 2-levels of
gates
 The 1st level consists of OR
gates, and the 2nd level consists
of a single AND gate
 Also called 2-level Circuit

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SOP and POS Expressions and its use for Minimization

Implementation of Sum Of Product (SOP)

• Consider F = AB + C(D+E)
• This expression is NOT in the sum-of-products form
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• Use the identities / algebraic manipulation to convert

to a standard form (sum of products), as in
F = AB + CD + CE
• Logic Diagrams:
A A
B B

F C F
C D

D C
E E

3-level circuit 2-level circuit 31