A minterm-ring algorithm for simplifying Boolean expressions

The minterm-ring algorithm determines prime implicants (PIs) and essential prime implicants (EPIs) of a switching function by counting the number of links of each minterm to logically adjacent minterms. The method directly produces a reduced prime implicant table by identifying EPIs at each stage of the process. Minterm-ring maps provide a 3-dimensional perspective for visual identification of implicants, PIs, and EPIs. Two classical methods for simplifying Boolean algebra expressions are the Karnaugh map method and the Quine-McCluskey tabulation method. The minterm-ring method combines map techniques and an algorithm for simplifying Boolean expressions of five or more variables.< >