Mind Mangler - a Karnaugh Map Example 5/4/11 2:30 PM

A Worked Example

Problem:
Given a Boolean expression:
Wondering
how to
F = AB + B'C pronounce
use a Karnaugh map (K-map) to "Karnaugh
minimize. map?" Click
here.

Approach: Determine the size (number of cells) for Side Note: At

the Karnaugh map. To do this, count the left, the text
number of unique variables in the corresponding
expression. Do not count B' (the to the number
of unique
complement of B) as a separate variable variables is
from B . Hence, in AB + B'C there highlighted in
yellow, and
are 3 variables: A , B , and C . the text
corresponding
For k variables, each of which can take to the base of
one of two values (e.g., 1 or 0, true or the number
false, high or low voltage), there are 2 k system is
possible combinations of variable values. highlighted in
Here, 2 is the base of the number turquoise.
system, since there are only 2 possible
values. Hence, for the 3 variables in this Note that
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Mind Mangler - a Karnaugh Map Example 5/4/11 2:30 PM

problem, we must have 2

3 =2x2x color is not
used in
2 = 8 cells in the Karnaugh map to hold Karnaugh-
all the possible combinations. map-related
homework,
Number of cells in map = 23 = although with
more complex
8 maps
sometimes
Just in case you are curious, here is a different
truth table of all 8 combinations, color- colors are
coded so we can match them up easily used around
with the Karnaugh map that we are doing the prime
next: implicants, for
clarity.
Possible Combinations: Color is used
here only as
A B C an
educational
1 1 1 aid.

1 1 0

1 0 1
1 0 0

0 1 1

0 1 0
0 0 1
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Mind Mangler - a Karnaugh Map Example 5/4/11 2:30 PM

0 0 0

Next we examine an empty Karnaugh

map with 8 cells, this time colored (for
educational purposes only) to show
which ABC value from the above table
corresponds to which cell. Here the four
rows represent all the combinations of
the variables BC , and the two columns
represent all the values that can be taken
by the remaining variable, A. Note that
the values of B and C are in Gray code
order in the rows.

We can see that the upper left cell

corresponds to an ABC value of 000,
and the lower right to an ABC value of
110. Inside each cell will go the value of
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Mind Mangler - a Karnaugh Map Example 5/4/11 2:30 PM

F = AB + B'C for that cell's ABC

value.

Here's an untinted version of the same

empty 3-variable Karnaugh map. Having
an empty version can be handy, so that
you can quickly make a new 3-variable
Karnaugh map without having to redraw
one each time. To save the image to
your hard drive, right-click on it, and
depending on your browser, choose
"Save Picture As" or an equivalent
command.

Now back to the problem. Let's populate

the empty Karnaugh map with values of
F = AB + B'C, one for each possible
value of ABC . First make a truth table
for F , so we can know what values to
put in the cells. The leftmost 3 columns
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Mind Mangler - a Karnaugh Map Example 5/4/11 2:30 PM

of the truth table for F are the same as

the truth table above showing all possible
value combinations for ABC .

Truth Table for F = AB + B'C

A B C B' AB B'C F = AB + B'C
1 1 1 0 1 0 1
1 1 0 0 1 0 1
1 0 1 1 0 1 1
1 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 1 1
0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Continuing Here is the 8-cell Karnaugh map, filled with

on: the values from the truth table:

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Mind Mangler - a Karnaugh Map Example 5/4/11 2:30 PM

Next, combine prime implicants, which are

maximal groupings of 1's of sizes that are
powers of 2, such as 1 one, 2 ones, 4 ones,
8 ones, etc. Here the largest number of 1's
that is a power of two that we can find in a
block or straight line is 2. We do have one
column of three 1's, but 3 is not an integral
power of 2, so we can't use that. Two
groupings of 2 ones each is the best we can
manage.

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Mind Mangler - a Karnaugh Map Example 5/4/11 2:30 PM

The lower circle represents A=1 and

B=1, with no reference to C since C can
be either 0 or 1. Hence the prime implicant
represented by the lower circle is AB.
The upper circle represents B=0 and
C=1, with no reference to A since A can
be either 0 or 1. Hence the prime implicant
represented by the upper circle is B'C.

Since there are the only two prime

implicants, the resulting answer for the
minimized representation of F is:

F = AB + B'C
which is coincidentally the same
representation we had for F at the start.
This means that F was already in its
minimal form when we started the problem.

DONE

For the drawing Smartdraw Professional

Plus v. 6.2 was used, with the resulting
screen image captured by Snagit from

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Mind Mangler - a Karnaugh Map Example 5/4/11 2:30 PM

Techsmith.com, and further embellished,

then optimized for the Web, using
Photoshop7. The title graphic was done in
Photoshop 7.

Copyright © 2003 Crystal Sloan and Dr. Yul Williams

Page Design and Original Graphics Copyright © 2003 Crystal Sloan.

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