Chapter 4

Tabulation Method

Digital Systems
CSE 113
2 Outline

 Introduction
 5-Variable K-Maps
 6-Variable K-Maps
 The Tabulation Method
 Determination of Prime Implicants
 Prime Implicant Chart
 References.
3 Introduction

 Karnaugh maps with more than four variables are

not simple to use.

 The number of cells or squares becomes excessively

large and combining the adjacent squares
becomes complex.

 The number of cells or squares is always equal to the

number of minterms.
4 Introduction

 A five-variable Karnaugh map contains 25 or 32

cells, which are used to simplify any five-variable
logic function.
 The figures below demonstrate the five-variable
Karnaugh map and its minterms.
 For using PLA and PAL devices, the simplification of
so many variables are carried out by means of
tabular method or other computer-based methods.
5 Five-Variable K-Maps
6 Six-Variable K-Maps

 Six-variable Karnaugh maps consist of 26 or 64

squares or cells.

 Six-variable Karnaugh maps are formed with 64

minterms as demonstrated in the figure below.

7 Six-Variable K-Maps
8 The Tabulation Method

 The Karnaugh map method is a very useful and

convenient tool for simplification of Boolean
functions as long as the number of variables does
not exceed four (at the most six).

 If the number of variables increases, the visualization

and selection of patterns of adjacent cells in the
Karnaugh map becomes complicated and difficult.
9 The Tabulation Method

 The tabular method, also known as the Quine-

McCluskey method, overcomes this difficulty.

 It is a specific step-by-step procedure to achieve

guaranteed, simplified standard form of expression
for a function.

 The following steps are followed for simplification by

the tabular or Quine-McCluskey method.
10 The Tabulation Method

1. An exhaustive search is done to find the terms that may

be included in the simplified functions. These terms are
called prime implicants.
2. Form the set of prime implicants, essential prime
implicants are determined by preparing a prime
implicants chart.
3. The minterms that are not covered by the essential
prime implicants, are taken into consideration by
selecting some more prime implications to obtain an
optimized Boolean expression.
11 Determination of Prime Implicants

 The prime implicants are obtained by the following

procedure:
1. Each minterm of the function is expressed by its binary
representation.
2. The minterms are arranged according to increasing
index (the number of 1s in a minterm).
3. Each of the minterms is compared with the minterms of
a higher index. For each pair of terms that can combine,
the new terms are formed.
12 Determination of Prime Implicants

4. If two minterms are differed by only one variable, that

variable is replaced by a ‘-’ (dash) to form the new term
with one less number of literals.
5. A line is drawn in when all the minterms of one set is
compared with all the minterms of a higher index.
6. The same process is repeated for all the groups of
minterms. A new list of terms is obtained after the first
stage of elimination is completed.
13 Determination of Prime Implicants

7. At the next stage of elimination two terms from the new

list with the ‘-’ of the same position differing by only one
variable are compared and again another new term is
formed with a less number of literals.
8. The process is to be continued until no new match is
possible.
9. All the terms that remain unchecked i.e., where no
match is found during the process, are considered to be
the prime implicants.
14 Prime Implicant Chart

1. After obtaining the prime implicants, a chart or table is

prepared where rows are represented by the prime
implicants, and the columns are represented by the
minterms of the function.
2. Crosses are placed in each row to show the composition
of the minterms that makes the prime implicants.
3. A completed prime implicant table is to be inspected for
the columns containing only a single cross.
4. Prime implicants that cover the minterms with a single
cross are called the essential prime implicants.
15 Example 1

 Obtain the minimal sum of the products for the

function:

F (A, B, C, D) = Σ (1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15).

 Solution: The table in the figure below shows the

step-by-step procedure the Quine-McCluskey
method uses to obtain the simplified expression of
the above function.
16 Example 1
17 Example 1 Co nt.

 The terms which are not marked with ‘√’ are the Prime
implicants.
 Variables are to be considered as true form in place of
1s, as complemented form in place of 0s, and no
variable if ‘-’ appears.
 Here the prime implicants are B′C′D , A′BD′ , A′BC , BCD
, ACD (from column III), and AB′ (from column IV).
 So, the Boolean expression can be written as:
F = AB′ + B′C′D + A′BD′ + A′BC + BCD + ACD.
18 Example 1 Co nt.

 The above expression may not be of minimized form,

as all the prime implicants may not be necessary.

 To find out the essential prime implicants, the

following steps are carried out.

 A table or chart consisting of prime implicants and

the decimal equivalent of minterms as given in the
expression is prepared, as shown in the figure below.
19 Example 1 Co nt.
20 Example 1 Co nt.

 In the table, the prime implicants are listed in the 1st

column and Xs are placed against the
corresponding minterms.
 The completed prime implicant table is now
inspected for the columns containing a single X.
 As in the above figure, the minterm 1 is represented
by only a single prime implicant B′C′D, and only a
single X in that column, it should be marked as well
as the corresponding column should be marked.
21 Example 1 Co nt.

 Similarly, the prime implicants AB′ and AB′D′ are

marked. These are the essential prime implicants as
they are absolutely necessary to form the minimized
Boolen expression.
 Now all the other minterms corresponding to these
prime implicants are marked at the end of the
columns i.e., the minterms 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are
marked.
22 Example 1 Co nt.

 Note that the terms A′BC, BCD, and ACD are not
marked. So they are not the essential prime
implicants.
 However, the minterms 7 and 15 are still unmarked
and both of them are covered by the term BCD and
are included in the Boolean expression.
 Therefore, the simplified Boolean expression of the
given function can be written as:
F = AB′ + B′C′D + A′BD′ + BCD.
23 Example 1 Co nt.

 A function with don’t-care conditions can be

simplified by the tabulation method with slight
modification.
 The don’t-care conditions are to be included in the
list of minterms while determining the prime
implicants.
 But the don’t-care conditions are excluded in the list
of minterms when the prime implicants table is
prepared, because these terms do not have to be
covered by the selected prime implicants.
24 Example 2

 Obtain the minimal sum of the products for the

function F (A,B,C,D) = Σ (1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15)
by the Quine-McClusky method.
 Solution: The first step is to find out the prime
implicants as described by the table in the figure
below.
 The prime implicants are B′D, B′C, AB′, CD, and AC.
 Also, the prime implicant table is prepared as in the
figure below.
25 Example 2 Co nt.
26 Example 2 Co nt.
27 Example 2 Co nt.

 From the table of prime implicants, all the prime

implicants are essential.

 So, the simplified Boolean expression of the given

function is:

F = B′D + B′C + AB′ + CD + AC.

28 Example 3

 Using the Quine-McClusky method, obtain the

minimal sum of the products expression for the
function:

F(A, B, C, D) = Σ (1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11) + Φ (6, 8).

 Solution: The prime implicants are obtained from the

table in the figure below.
29 Example 3 Co nt.
30 Example 3 Co nt.
31 Example 3 Co nt.

 The prime implicants are A′C′D , A′BC′ , A′BD′ , B′D ,

and AB′. The prime implicant table is prepared as in
the figure shown above. From the table, we obtain
the essential prime implicants B′D and AB′.
 The minterms 4 and 5 are not marked in the table.
The term A′BC′ is considered, which covers both the
minterms 4 and 5.
 So, the simplified Boolean expression for the given
function is: F = A′BC′ + B′D + AB′.
32 Example 4

 Using the Quine-McClusky method obtain the

minimal sum of the products expression for the
function:
F(A,B,C,D,E) = Σ (0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14,
16, 18, 24, 26, 28, 30).
 Solution: The prime implicants are obtained from the
table in the figure below.
33 Example 4 Co nt.
34 Example 4 Co nt.
35 Example 4 Co nt.

 The prime implicant table is prepared as in the

above figure.
 The essential prime implicants are B′C′E′, ABE′,
A′C′DE, A′BD′E, and BCDE′.
 The term A′B′CE may be considered to include
minterms 5 and 7.
 The simplified expression of the function is:
F = B′C′E + ABE′ + A′C′DE + A′B′CE + A′BD′E + BCDE′
36 References

[1] A. Saha and N. Manna, Digital Principles and Logic Design,

INFINITY SCIENCE PRESS LLC, 2007. [ Link ]

[2] Zeiad El Saghir, Logic Design, Faculty of Electronic Engineering,

2010. [Link]