2/4/2018 Finding minimal POS with a K-map

K-maps and POS

Introduction

We have been using K-maps to find the minimum sum-of-products form of a function:

(___)+(__)+(___)

You can also use K-maps to find the minimum product-of-sums form of a function:

(_+_+_)(_)(_+_)

Minterms and Maxterms

The process for finding the minimum POS form of a function with a K-map is complementary to the
process of finding the minimum SOP form. Before going into more detail recall the relationship
between minterms and maxterms:

A B C Minterm Maxterm
000 A'B'C' (A + B + C)
001 A'B'C (A + B + C')
010 A'BC' (A + B' + C)
... ... ...

A minterm is an expression that is 1 for exactly one set of input values. A maxterm is an expression
that is 0 for exactly one set of input values. The canonical form of an expression is either sum-of-
minterms (with a minterm for every element in the onset of the function):

minterm + minterm + minterm

or product-of-maxterms (with a maxterm for every element in the offset of the function):

maxterm * maxterm * maxterm

The structure of a K-map is such that adjacent minterms and maxterms can always be covered by a
smaller expression. For example:

If A'B'C' + A'B'C are two adjacent minterms in a K-map

A'B'(C' + C)
A'B'

If (A + B + C) (A + B + C') are two adjacent maxterms in a K-map

(A + B) + CC'
(A + B)

Example

Here is an example to explain the process. Find the minimum product-of-sums for the following
function:
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F(A,B,C,D) = M (3,5,7,8,10,11,12,13)

The K-map looks the same except we circle 0's rather than 1's:

Also notice how the expressions are formed for each prime implicant. If the index for the variable is a
1 the variable is complemented in the expression. This follows from the definition of a maxterm.

The rest is pretty much the same as the method for finding the POS form:

1. Write down essential prime implicants. (Note, the example used here is a bit unusual because there
are no essential prime implicants.)

2. Pick from the remaining prime implicants a minimal subset of prime implicants that covers the
remaining 0's of the function.

Since there are no essential prime implicants in our example we need to choose from all prime
implicants a minimal cover. There are two possible answers:

F = (B + C' + D')(A + B' + D')(A' + B' + C)(A' + B + D)

OR
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2/4/2018 Finding minimal POS with a K-map

F = (A + C' + D')(B' + C + D')(A' + C + D)(A' + B + C')

A good follow-on exercise would be to use the K-map method to find the minimum sum-of-products
form of the function and then use Boolean algebra to prove the minimum sum-of-products form of the
function is equivalent to one of the expressions above.

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