F(A,B,C,D) = Σm(0,3,5,6,9,10,12,15) — SOP and POS

edge case8 minterms; XNOR chain

Answer

Σm(0,3,5,6,9,10,12,15) = ΠM(1,2,4,7,8,11,13,14)

Why this example is worth doing

Even parity over four variables: exactly the eight rows with an even number of 1s. In canonical SOP it is eight four-literal terms, in canonical POS eight four-literal factors, and no two-level minimisation reduces either — the function is maximally hostile to SOP and POS alike. As an XNOR chain it is three gates. The page uses it as the closing argument that canonical forms are a normal form for comparison and not a target for implementation, and links to the parity tool.

Try your own input in the SOP & POS canonical forms. Expand to canonical minterms and maxterms, and convert between the two.

How the answer is reached

Canonical sum of products

A′ · B′ · C′ · D′ + A′ · B′ · C · D + A′ · B · C′ · D + A′ · B · C · D′ + A · B′ · C′ · D + A · B′ · C · D′ + A · B · C′ · D′ + A · B · C · D

Canonical product of sums

(A + B + C + D′) · (A + B + C′ + D) · (A + B′ + C + D) · (A + B′ + C′ + D′) · (A′ + B + C + D) · (A′ + B + C′ + D′) · (A′ + B′ + C + D′) · (A′ + B′ + C′ + D)

Truth table

Truth table — columns #, A, B, C, D, F
#ABCDF
000001
100010
200100
300111
401000
501011
601101
701110
810000
910011
1010101
1110110
1211001
1311010
1411100
1511111

Compare with

Open this example in the SOP & POS canonical forms

The field arrives filled in with this example’s input.

Note:

Notation this page assumes

  • Symbols: · is AND, + is OR, ⊕ is XOR, a prime or an overline is NOT. The field also takes ∧ ∨ ¬ ~ ! & | and the words.
  • Operator precedence, tightest first: NOT, then AND (including juxtaposition), then XOR/XNOR, then NAND/NOR, then OR, then IMPLIES, then IFF.
  • In a minterm index the first variable is the most significant bit, so over [A, B, C] minterm 5 is A·B̄·C.

Sources

  • Shannon, “A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits” (1938)
  • McCluskey, “Minimization of Boolean Functions” (1956)