ECE 322

LOGIC CIRCUITS AND

SWITCHING THEORY
Module 6
Boolean Functions

Canonical and Standard Forms

(SOP & POS expression)
Objectives

At the end of the lesson, you as a student

should be able to :
identify minterms and maxterms of a certain
function.
Derive the standard sum of product (SOP)
and product of sum (POS) expressions

L.G. Arcega
UDM-CET
MINTERM AND MAXTERM EXPANSION
A LITERAL is a variable or its complement.
Example: W, X, Y, Z, W’, X’, Y’, Z’, etc…
A binary variable, say X, may appear either in its normal form
X or in its complemented form X̅. Now consider two binary
variables X and Y combined with an AND operation. Since each
variable may appear in either form, these two variables can form
four possible combinations: X̅ Y̅, X̅ Y, X Y̅, and X Y. Each of
these four AND terms is called a minterm or a standard product.
In a similar manner, n variables can be combined to form 2n
minterms. The binary numbers from 0 to 2n- 1 are listed under the
n variables. Each minterm is obtained from an AND term of the n
variables, with each variable being complemented if the
corresponding bit of the binary number is zero and in the normal
form if one.
L.G. Arcega
UDM-CET
MINTERM AND MAXTERM EXPANSION
In a similar fashion, n variables forming OR terms, provide
also 2n possible combinations called the maxterms or the standard
sums. Each maxterms is obtained from an OR term of the n
variables, with each variable in the normal form if the corresponding
bit is a zero and in the complemented form if one.

L.G. Arcega
UDM-CET
MINTERM AND MAXTERM EXPANSION

The table below shows the minterms and maxterms of a three

binary variable function.

INPUT
Row Minterm Maxterm
A B C MINTERM MAXTERM
No. Designation Designation

0 0 0 0 A’B’C’ m0 A+B+C M0
1 0 0 1 A’ B’C m1 A+B+C’ M1
2 0 1 0 A’ BC’ m2 A+B’+C M2
3 0 1 1 A’ BC m3 A+B’+C’ M3
4 1 0 0 AB’C’ m4 A’+B+C M4
5 1 0 1 AB’C m5 A’+B+C’ M5
6 1 1 0 ABC’ m6 A’+B’+C M6
7 1 1 1 ABC m7 A’+B’+C’ M7
L.G. Arcega
UDM-CET
MINTERM

A Boolean function may be expressed algebraically from a

given truth table by forming a minterm for each combination of the
variables which produces a 1 in the output, and then taking the OR
of all those terms. This is called the sum of products (SOP) of a
Boolean function.

From the above given table, if m0 - m7 are assigned to each

minterm, then we can express the Boolean function as

f(X,Y,Z) = m0 + m1 + . . . + m7 or
f(X,Y,Z) = ∑(m0 , m1 , . . . , m7)

L.G. Arcega
MAXTERM

In the same way, any Boolean function can be expressed as a

product of maxterms. Form the maxterms for each combination of
the variables which produces a 0 in the output then form the AND
of all those maxterms. This is known as the product of sums (POS)
form of a Boolean function.

From the above given table, if M0 - M7 are assigned to each

maxterm, the Boolean function may be expressed as

f(X,Y,Z) = M0 M1 . . . M7 or
f(X,Y,Z) = Π (M0 . . . M7)

L.G. Arcega
 MINTERM EXPANSION
In general, a MINTERM of n variables is a product of n literals
in which each variable appears exactly once in either true form or
complemented form.

When a function f is written as a sum of minterms, this is referred

to as a minterm expansion or a standard sum of products.

If f = 1 for row i of the truth table, then mi must be present in the

expansion because mi = 1 only for the combination of values of the
variables corresponding to row i of the table.

f = A’BC + AB’C’ + AB’C + ABC’ + ABC

f(A, B, C) = m3 + m4 + m5 + m6 + m7
f (A, B, C) = ∑ m(3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
L.G. Arcega
UDM-CET
MAXTERM EXPANSION
A MAXTERM of n variables is the sum of n literals in which
each variable appears exactly once in either true or complemented
form.
Each maxterm has a value of 0 for exactly one combination of
values for A, B, and C
INPUT
Row OUTPUT Minterm Maxterm
A B C MINTERM MAXTERM
No. f Designation Designation

0 0 0 0 0 A’B’C’ m0 A+B+C M0
1 0 0 1 0 A’ B’C m1 A+B+C’ M1
2 0 1 0 0 A’ BC’ m2 A+B’+C M2
3 0 1 1 1 A’ BC m3 A+B’+C’ M3
4 1 0 0 1 AB’C’ m4 A’+B+C M4
5 1 0 1 1 AB’C m5 A’+B+C’ M5
6 1 1 0 1 ABC’ m6 A’+B’+C M6
7 1 1 1 1 ABCL.G. Arcegaz m7 A’+B’+C’ M7
When a function f is written as a product of maxterms, this is
referred to as a maxterm expansion or standard product of sums.
If f = 0 for row i of the truth table, then Mi must be present in the
maxterm expansion because Mi = 0 only for the combination of
values of the variables corresponding to row i of the table.
 

f = (A + B + C)(A + B + C’)(A + B’ + C) = M0M1M2

f (A, B, C) = ∏ M(0, 1, 2)
Each maxterm is the complement of the corresponding
minterm, that is,
Mi = m’i.
 

Given the minterm or maxterm expansions for f, the minterm or

maxterm expansions for the complement of f are easy to obtain.
Because f’ = 1 when f = 0, the minterm expansion for f’ contains
the minterms not present in f. 
L.G. Arcega
Examples:
Find the minterm expansion of f on the given truth table of the function
f (A, B, C)
INPUT
Row OUTPUT Minterm
A B C MINTERM
No. f Designation

0 0 0 0 1 m0 A’B’C’
1 0 0 1 0 m1 A’ B’C
2 0 1 0 1 m2 A’ BC’
3 0 1 1 0 m3 A’ BC
4 1 0 0 0 m4 AB’C’
5 1 0 1 1 m5 AB’C
6 1 1 0 0 m6 ABC’
7 B, C)
f (A, 1 =1A‘B‘C’
1 + A‘BC’
1 + A B’C +mABC
7 ABC
f (A, B, C) = m0 + m2 + m5 + m7
f (A, B, C) = ∑ m(0, 2, 5, 7)
L.G. Arcega
f (A, B, C) = A‘B‘C’ + A‘BC’ + A B’C + ABC
f (A, B, C) = m0 + m2 + m5 + m7
f (A, B, C) = ∑ m(0, 2, 5, 7)

A B C

L.G. Arcega
f (A, B, C) = A‘B‘C’ + A‘BC’ + A B’C + ABC
f (A, B, C) = m0 + m2 + m5 + m7
f (A, B, C) = ∑ m(0, 2, 5, 7)

A B C

L.G. Arcega
Examples:
Find the maxterm expansion of f on the given truth table of the function
f (A, B, C)
INPUT
Row OUTPUT Maxterm
A B C MAXTERM
No. f Designation

0 0 0 0 1 M0 A+B+C
1 0 0 1 0 M1 A+B+C’
2 0 1 0 1 M2 A+B’+C
3 0 1 1 0 M3 A+B’+C’
4 1 0 0 0 M4 A’+B+C
5 1 0 1 1 M5 A’+B+C’
6 1 1 0 0 M6 A’+B’+C
f (A,
7 B, 1C) 1= (A1 + B + C’)
1 (A + B’ + C’)
M(A ‘+ B + C) (A’ + B’ +A’+B’+C’
C)
7
f (A, B, C) = M1 • M3 • M4 • M6
f (A, B, C) = ∏ M(1, 3, 4, 6)
L.G. Arcega
f (A, B, C) = (A + B + C’) (A + B’ + C’) (A ‘+ B + C) (A’ + B’ + C)
f (A, B, C) = M1 • M3 • M4 • M6
f (A, B, C) = ∏ M(1, 3, 4, 6)
A B C

L.G. Arcega
f (A, B, C) = (A + B + C’) (A + B’ + C’) (A ‘+ B + C) (A’ + B’ + C)
f (A, B, C) = M1 • M3 • M4 • M6
f (A, B, C) = ∏ M(1, 3, 4, 6)

A B C

L.G. Arcega
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L.G. Arcega
UDM-CET