ABSTRACT
In the previous sections, we have discussed the design of a two-level network with AND and OR gates in
double-rail input logic
(i.e., both
x
and for each
x
are available as network inputs) that has a minimum number of gates as the primary objective and a minimum number of connections as the secondary objective. If a network need not be in two levels, we may be able to further reduce the number of gates or connections, but there is no known simple systematic design procedure for this purpose, whether tabular, algebraic, or graphical, that guarantees the minimality of the network. (The integer programming logic design method
can do this but is complex, requiring long processing time.) But when multi-level minimal networks with NAND gates only (or NOR gates only) are to be designed, there is a method called the
map-factoring method
to design a logic network based on a Karnaugh map. In designing a logic network in
single-rail input logic
(i.e., only one of
x
and for each x
is available as a network input) with the map-factoring method, it is less easy to see the minimality of the number of gates, although when two-level minimal networks with NAND gates in double-rail input logic are to be designed, it is as easy to see the minimality as two-level minimal networks with AND and OR gates in double-rail input logic on Karnaugh maps. By using designer’s intuition based on the pictorial nature of a Karnaugh map, at least reasonably good networks in multi-levels can be derived after trial-and-error efforts. As a matter of fact, minimal networks can sometimes be obtained, although the method does not enable us to prove their minimality. However, if we are satisfied with reasonably good networks, the map-factoring method is useful for manual design. It is actually an extension of the Karnaugh map method for minimal two-level networks with AND and OR gates discussed so far, with far greater flexibility: by the map-factoring method, we can design not only in two-levels but also in multi-levels in
single-rail or double-rail input logic, and also two-level minimal networks with NAND gates in doublerail input logic that can be designed by the map-factoring method are essentially two-level minimal networks with AND and OR gates, as will be discussed later. The map-factoring method, which was first described in Chapter 6 of Ref. 3 for single-rail input logic as discussed later in this chapter, is extended here with minor modification.
