SKEDSOFT

A K-map in three variables is a rectangle divided into eight cells. The cells represent the eight possible minterms in three variables. Two cells are said to be adjacent if the minterms that they represent differ in exactly one literal. One of the ways to form a K-map in three variables is shown in Figure 5(a). This K-map can be thought of as lying on a cylinder, as shown in Figure 5(b). On the cylinder, two cells have a common border if and only if they are adjacent.

To simplify a sum-of-products expansion in three variables, we use the K-map to identify blocks of minterms that can be combined. Blocks of two adjacent cells represent pairs of minterms that can be combined into a product of two literals; 2 × 2 and 4 × 1 blocks of cells represent minterms that can be combined into a single literal; and the block of all eight cells represents a product of no literals, namely, the function 1. In Figure 6, 1 × 2, 2 × 1, 2 × 2, 4×1, and 4 × 2 blocks and the products they represent are shown.
The product of literals corresponding to a block of all 1s in the K-map is called an implicant of the function being minimized. It is called a prime implicant if this block of 1s is not contained in a larger block of 1s representing the product of fewer literals than in this product. The goal is to identify the largest possible blocks in the map and cover all the 1s in the map with the least number of blocks, using the largest blocks first. The largest possible blocks are always chosen, but we must always choose a block if it is the only block of 1s covering a 1 in the K-map. Such a block represents an essential prime implicant. By covering all the 1s in the map with blocks corresponding to prime implicants we can express the sum of products as a sum of prime implicants. Note that there may be more than one way to cover all the 1s using the least number of blocks.