A CHART METHOD FOR SiMPLiFYiNG TRUTH FUNCTIONS

E. W . V eitch
Burroughs Adding Machine Co.

Since Claude Shannon I discovered or example is the use of bridge circuits in

rediscovered that truth-function logic relay systems, w h i c h do n o t h a v e d i r e c t
(propositional calculus) can be used in logical formula equivalents.
the analysis and design of circuits com- The result of this complexity is that
posed of two valued elements, the appli- most investigation has been with regard
cation of these techniques has been under to one particular form of equipment or
increased study. In utilizing this circuit or one type of solution or pro-
method, once the system has been formu- blem. Work h a s b e e n d o n e i n r e f e r e n c e
l a t e d i n t e r m s o f some l o g i c a l equation to single output circuits, to circuits
or equations, the problem arises o f how with all outputs desired, etc. In con-
to manipulate this equation into the junction with this,much effort has been
form which corresponds to the best spent in devising schemes for easily re-
physical equivalent. ducing any logical expression to its
This general problem can be very com- simplest normal form; that is, to a
plicated and difficult. Not only does logical sum o f t e r m s e a c h o f w h i c h i s
the complexity increase greatly with the the logical product of various combin-
number of inputs and outputs, but the ations of the input variables and their
criteria of the best circuit will vary negations, and which contain no super-
with the equipment involved. The fluous variables, terms, or the like.
various use of relays, crystal diodes, The chart method to be described in
different types of vacuum tube circuits, this paper is a different approach to
or other &laments, all of which have this latter problem of determining the
different advantages and limitations of simplest normal form; it has also the
timing, loading, etc., will have an im- advantage of sometimes pointing out
portant effect upon the choice finally other types of solution when these might
made. Examples are the desirability of be better. The method is similar in its
equalizing the contact loading in a re- results to the method developed by the
lay clr~ult, and the necessity for staff of the Harvard Computation Labora-
keeping chains of crystal gates and tory 2 and to the system described by
mixers to a minimum length. Another
Hi i ii
2 Harvard Computation Laboratory Staff,
1 C.E. Shannon, A Symbolic Analysis of Synthesis of electronic computing and
Relay and Switching Circuits, Trans. control circuits (Harvard University
A.I.E.E. vol. 57 (1938), pp. 713-723 Press, 1951)

O O I I w
y z 0 I x yz 0 I 0 I x
0 0 O0
0 I X 0 1
I 0 I 0 X X
I I X I I

FIGURE

CHARTS OF THREE 8, FOUR VARIABLES

Page 127
 W.V. Quine in a recent paper 3, but then attempting to choose from these in
differ in attempting to represent the such a way as to represent the formula by
function in a form which is easily sim- the minimum number of elements. Quine's
plified, rather than by tabulating all metnod is similar, except that the chart
possible reductions and then choosing is constructed when desired, and contains
between them, which is the basic founda- only the significant elements.
tion of the other two approaches. The method described here is an attempt

0 0 I l w
y z 0 ! 0 ! x
I
OO x!x X X
O I X X X X
I O X X
I I

I !
f=w' y' z' f= W Z f=y'z

X
~X X X X
i

X X X X X
!
f=y f=xz f= xz

FIGURE 2 TYPICAL PATTERNS

All f o r m u l a s can be r e p r e s e n t e d in to represent the truth table of a function
d i s j u n c t i v e n o r m a l form: as the l o g i c a l in such a way as to make the possible
s u m of terms, of w h i c h each t e r m is the factorings readily apparent. The ideal
l o g i c a l p r o d u c t of e v e r y input v a r i a b l e manner for presenting a formula would
or its n e g a t i o n . For a p r o b l e m of n seem to be in the form of a n-dimension-
v a r i a b l e s t h e r e are 2 n p o s s i b l e t e r m s of al cube, in which possible combination
this kind, each r e p r e s e n t i n g one of the of terms could be easily seen. Since
2 n p o s s i b l e c o m b i n a t i o n s of the input n-dimensions is impractical, the chart
variables. The f o r m u l a thus i n d i c a t e s represents the function ih a two dimen-
w h i c h of these input c o m b i n a t i o n s c o r r e - sional equivalent. The chart is a
s p o n d to a high voltage, a pulse, a con- rectangle of 2n/2 by 2n/2 if n is even
t i n u o u s c i r c u i t , etc., or in l o g i c a l or 2 (n+l)/2 by 2(n-l)/2 if n is odd.
t e r m s an i n d i c a t i o n of t r u t h in the out-
A nine input problem with this method can
put. T h e H a r v a r d c h a r t is e s s e n t i a l l y a be expressed as a 32 by 16 chart; the
l i s t i n g a f t e r each of t h e s e 2 n t e r m s of
corresponding Harvard chart would be
all p r o d u c t terms of u p to n v a r i a b l e s
512 by 512. Every truth-table combina-
w h i c h are i m p l i e d by the term; that is, tion is represented by one square in the
t h o s e w h i c h are true w h e n the t e r m is rectangle. The charts of three variables
true. T h i s leads to a chart of 2 n by 2 n
and four variables are shown in Fig. i.
dimensions. The t e c h n i q u e for u s i n g the The procedure is to check those
c h a r t i n v o l v e s d r a w i n g lines t h r o u g h squares in which the function is true,
v a r i o u s s e c t i o n s of the chart u n t i l only and then to use the chart to discover
the a l l o w a b l e q u a n t i t i e s remain, a n d from the squares which of the allowable
patterns represent the best factoring of
3 W.V. Quine, The P r o b l e m of S i m p l i f y - terms in the function. Typical patterns
ing T r u t h Function, u n p u b l i s h e d p a p e r to are shown in Fig. 2
a p p e a r in the A m e r i c a n M a t h e m a t i c a l A pattern of k elements is represent-
Monthly. ed by a term of n + 1 - k elements. This

Page 128
 means that in c h o o s i n g p a t t e r n s from the
The c h a r t s and solutions are shown in
chart, it is d e s i r a b l e to c h o o s e the
F i g . 5. In this example the four outputs
p a t t e r n s so that each e n c o m p a s s e s as
were considered independently as four
many positions as possible.
separate problems. Actually, of course,
In choosing the patterns it is neces-
the optim9m multiple output solution may
sary that each checked square be repre-
combine the terms in various ways. The
sented by at least one of the patterns;
non-allowable input combinations are re-
it is allowable for a square to be in-
presented by s h a d i n g .
cluded in two or more of the patterns.
The p a t t e r n s can be f o r m e d f r o m t h e

J i | |
f = WIXayIz s V W'X I y Z I v wxy z v wxyz
I
v w × y|z | v wxy |Z | v wxyz

0 0 I I w
y z 0 I 0 I x
O0 ' .N
o,(
I 0
I I × i

f = X'Z' V WZ' V W'X y Z

f = z' ( x ' v w) v w'x yz

FIGURE 3
T h e f o l l o w i n g n o t a t i o n is u s e d in the
e x a m p l e to be d i s c u s s e d :
- - - v - - - d e n o t e s - - - or - - - or both
- - d e n o t e s - - - if a n d only
. . . . denotes not -
,~u'(- - _) denotes not (- - -)
As the first e x a m p l e c o n s i d e r the func-
tion s h o w n in Fig. 3. The disjunctive
n o r m a l f o r m is s h o w n at t o p and the r e -
d u c e d f o r m below. The s o l u t i o n is r e p r e -
s e n t e d by t w o p a t t e r n s of four s q u a r e s
and o n e of a s i n g l e s q u a r e . As is
shown, a f u r t h e r f a c t o r i n g was possible.
O n e of t h e m a j o r a d v a n t a g e s of this
m e t h o d over the m o r e c o n v e n t i o n a l a l g e -
braic m e t h o d s is the ability, s h a r e d w i t h
the H a r v a r d c h a r t m e t h o d , of t a k i n g ad-
v a n t a g e of n o n - a l l o w a b l e or i n d i f f e r e n t
c o m b i n a t i o n s of t h e input variables.
For t h e s e c o n d i t i o n s , the o u t p u t may be
c o n s i d e r e d a r b i t r a r i l y e i t h e r true or
false. As an e x a m p l e c o n s i d e r the func-
tions for c o n v e r s i o n of d e c i m a l d i g i t s
s t o r e d in the b i n a r y c o d e d e x c e s s t h r e e
code to the 8 4 2 1 b i n a r y form. The
t r u t h t a b l e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of this is
s h o w n in Fig. 4.
t e r m s of a p a r t i a l l y r e d u c e d f o r m u l a just
as easily. Fig. 6 s h o w s a f u n c t i o n re-
p r e s e n t e d in n o r m a l f o r m by four terms of
if t w o e l e m e n t s each. T h e c h a r t o n the left
s h o w s t h e s e as four p a t t e r n s ; on the
r i g h t is a b e t t e r c h o i c e of patterns,
w h i c h l e a d s to the f i r s t s o l u t i o n g i v e n
below.
The second solution illustrates another
f o r m w h i c h a l s o m a y be f o u n d f r o m the chart.
T h i s is the s o l u t i o n w h i c h is o b t a i n e d by
f i n d i n g the p a ~ t e r n s for t h e u n c h e c k e d
squares, and t h e n u s i n g the n e g a t i v e of
this s o l u t i o n . This p a r t i c u l a r f o r m of
s o l u t i o n is o f t e n b e t t e r t h a n the other,
and b o t h s h o u l d be e x a m i n e d to s e e w h i c h
is m o r e e c o n o m i c a l . This s o l u t i o n , in-
c i d e n t a l l y , is the n o r m a l s o l u t i o n u s e d
on the H a r v a r d charts; the p o s i t i v e
s o l u t i o n of this r e p o r t is the H a r v a r d
n e g a t i v e solution. This r e s u l t m a y be
w r i t t e n t h r o u g h use of De M o r g a n ' s
t h e o r e m as the l o g i c a l p r o d u c t of terms,
of w h i c h each t e r m is the l o g i c a l s u m of
input e l e m e n t s or t h e i r n e g a t i v e s . Fig. 7a
s h o w s an e x a m p l e of this.
A c o m b i n a t i o n s o l u t i o n m a y be the best.
T h e e x a m p l e in Fig. 7b s h o w s one f o r m of
PaEe 129
 EXCESS 3 8421
iNPUT OUTPUT

w xy z a b c d

0 0 0 0 L (INPUT COMBINATIONS
0 0 0 I j IMPOSSIBLE)
0 0 i 0
0 0 ! ! 0 0 0 0
0 I 0 0 0 0 0 I
0 1 0 I 0 0 ! 0
0 I I 0 0 0 ! I
0 I I i 0 i 0 0
I 0 0 0 0 i 0 I
I 0 0 i 0 i i 0
I 0 I 0 0 I ! i
I 0 I I i 0 0 0
I I 0 0 i 0 0 i
I I 0 I / (INPUT COMBINATIONS
I I I 0 j IMPOSSIBLE)
I I I I

TRUTH TABLE REPRESENTATION

FIGURE 4

Page 130
 0 0 i ! W
0 i 0 D X
y z w

0 0
0 I
0 I 0
b ®
I ! ®
I ! I !
o = w× v wyz b=x y v x z v xyz
!
a=w(x v yz) b=x'(y' v z ) v xyz

! i

C > <

! ! !
c= y z v yz d = z

CHARTS FOR CODE CONVERSION

FIGURE 5

' y'
f = x y' v x' y V yz v Z

f = y'(x v z) v y(x' v z')

0 I X

0 0 .
0 I <~....X..~,

I I

I Q f = x z' v x'y v y'z

2. f = iqJ(x'y'z' v x yz)

f = (x v y v z)(x' v y'vz')

FIGURE 6
Page 131
 ! xaxlx~

a b
ix

f = n./ (wx v yz) f=(w'x v y )r;L/(W'× y Z')

! 0 a I
f = (w' v x)(y v z ) f=(w'x v yz )(w v × v y v z)

OTHER FORMS OF SOLUTION

FIGURE 7

0 0 I i w
0 I 0 I x
Y Z
0 0 X X X
0 I
I 0 X
I I X X X X

! !
f Yg V Yg
g w
m Z V WX

FIGURE 8
P~e 132
tbis. Here the upper left hand corner
space is assumed to be checked, and this
c o n d i t i o n is later inhibited.
The chart may show another type of
solution. Consider the problem of Fig.8.
Here the upper half is the negation of
the lower half. The procedure is to
solve for the lower half and then use the
denial of this function in developing the
full solution. This case is an example
of a solution which would be useless if
inverters were not allowable elements.
Another problem which appears is that
of multiple output functions. One
approach is to place the separate charts
of the outputs close together and then
attempt to discover similarities or dis-
similarities by observation. This method
may, of course, not achieve the minimum
solution, but will quite often give a
satisfactory one. A second approach,
which is utilized by the Harvard Computa-
tion Laboratory Staff, is to use, in turn,
each output as an additional input to
each Other output and to see if this sim-
plifies the system. An example of this,
applied to these charts, is shown in
Fig. 9. The chart is taken from the code
c o n v e r s i o n problem discussed earlier
Fig. 5; it shows a simpler solution for
the function a, by making use of b. The
p r o c e d u r e is to use a chart of twice the
size and to shade on the left those posi-
tion corresponding to checks in b, and to
shade on the right the remaining squares.
Then fill in the checks of a in which
ever squares are open; in this example
the two squares are both available on
the left.
As was stated above, the method des-
cribed here approaches the problem of'
minimization by expressing the truth
table in a form in which possible simpli-
fications will be more apparent, rather
than by listing the possible simplifi-
cations and then attempting to choose
among them. Although this method may be
less automatic, it is thought that the
simplicity of the chart and the fact that
non-standard solutions are often more
apparent make this approach a valuable
tool.
I n most cases, none o f the methods so
f a r developed can be used as more than an
aid in finding the best representation of
a logical equation or set of equations.
Also, quite often the more or less ob-
vious solution is as good or better than
any chart solution. It is suspected that,
in the future, the minimization process
will probably be accomplished with the
aid of computing machines. Possibly the
most important contribution of the Harvard
and other chart methods is that they in-
dicate another approach to the mechani-
zation of this problem.

CI b
X

I. Q = w(x V yz
2. a = wb'

FIGURE 9
Fage 133