Canonical Form (Boolean Algebra)
In Boolean algebra, any Boolean function can be expressed in a canonical form using the dual concepts of minterms and maxterms. Minterms are called products because they are the logical AND of a set of variables, and maxterms are called sums because they are the logical OR of a set of variables (further definition appears in the sections headed Minterms and Maxterms below). These concepts are called duals because of their complementary-symmetry relationship as expressed by De Morgan's laws, which state that AND(x,y,z,...) = NOR(x',y',z',...) and OR(x,y,z,...) = NAND(x',y',z',...) (the apostrophe ' is an abbreviation for logical NOT, thus " x' " represents " NOT x ", the Boolean usage " x'y + xy' " represents the logical equation " (NOT(x) AND y) OR (x AND NOT(y)) ").
The dual canonical forms of any Boolean function are a "sum of minterms" and a "product of maxterms." The term "Sum of Products" or "SoP" is widely used for the canonical form that is a disjunction (OR) of minterms. Its De Morgan dual is a "Product of Sums" or "PoS" for the canonical form that is a conjunction (AND) of maxterms. These forms allow for greater analysis into the simplification of these functions, which is of great importance in the minimization or other optimization of digital circuits.
Read more about Canonical Form (Boolean Algebra): Summary, Minterms, Maxterms, Dualization, Non-canonical PoS and SoP Forms, Application Example
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