CHAPTER II
BOOLEAN ALGEBRA AND LOGIC GATES
Binary logic deals with variables that take two discrete values: 1 / 0, True / False, High /
Low.
Variables are designated by letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, x, y, z, etc.; with each
variable having two and only two distinct values: 1 and 0.
There are three basic logical operations: AND, OR and NOT. NOT has greater priority,
followed by AND and then OR.
AND:
Q (a, b) = a . b
Swithes in series – Logic AND
Light turns ON (Q = 1) if both switches are closed (a = 1 and b = 1)
OR:
Q (a, b) = a + b
Swithes in parallel – Logic OR
Light turns ON (Q = 1) if one or both of the switches are closed
NOT:
Q (a) = a'
Q = 1 if a = 0, and
Q = 0 if a = 1
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Truth Tables:
Truth Tables represent the results of a logic function using a table. They are constructed
by defining all possible combinations of the inputs to the function, and then calculating
the output for each combination.
Ex: Derive the truth table of the following circuit:
x1 x2 x3
L(x1, x2, x3) =
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LOGIC GATES
A logic gate is a hardware implementation of switching operation AND, OR and NOT.
AND Gate:
Q(A, B) = A AND B = A . B
OR Gate:
Q(A, B) = A OR B = A + B
NOT Gate:
Q(A) = NOT A = A'
Ex:
a) L(x1, x2, x3) =
b) Derive the truth table L
c) Draw the logic diagram of L
x1 x2 x3
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Timing Diagram:
A timing diagram is used to graphically describe what happens at the output on every
clock cycle.
Ex: f ( x1, x2, x3 ) = x1 + ( x2 . x'3 )
a) Depending on the x1, x2, x3 values, draw the timing diagram of f
b) Draw the logic diagram of f
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