Boolean Algebra¶

Boolean Algebra is a cornerstone of electronic design automation, and fundamental to several other areas of computer science and engineering. PyEDA has an extensive library for the creation and analysis of Boolean functions.

This document describes how to explore Boolean algebra using PyEDA. We will be using some mathematical language here and there, but please do not run away screaming in fear. This document assumes very little background knowledge.

What is Boolean Algebra?¶

All great stories have a beginning, so let’s start with the basics. You probably took a class called “algebra” in (junior) high school. So when you started reading this document you were already confused. Algebra is just algebra, right? You solve for $$x$$, find the intersection of two lines, and you’re done, right?

As it turns out, the high school algebra you are familiar with just scratches the surface. There are many algebras with equally many theoretical and practical uses. An algebra is the combination of two things:

1. a collection of mathematical objects, and
2. a collection of rules to manipulate those objects

For example, in high school algebra, you have numbers such as $$\{1, 3, 5, \frac{1}{2}, .337\}$$, and operators such as $$\{+, -, \cdot, \div\}$$. The numbers are the mathematical objects, and the operators are the rules for how to manipulate them. Except in very extreme circumstances (division by zero), whenever you add, subtract, or divide two numbers, you get another number.

Algebras are a big part of the “tools of the trade” for a mathematician. A plumber has a wrench, a carpenter has a saw, and a mathematician has algebras. To each his own.

A Boolean algebra defines the rules for working with the set $$\{0, 1\}$$. So unlike in normal algebra class where you have more numbers than you can possibly imagine, in Boolean Algebra you only have two.

Even though it is possible to define a Boolean Algebra using different operators, by far the most common operators are complement, sum, and product.

Complement Operator¶

The complement operator is a unary operator, which means it acts on a single Boolean input: $$x$$. The Boolean complement of $$x$$ is usually written as $$x'$$, $$\overline{x}$$, or $$\lnot x$$.

The output of the Boolean complement is defined by:

$\overline{0} = 1$$\overline{1} = 0$

Sum Operator¶

The sum (or disjunction) operator is a binary operator, which means it acts on two Boolean inputs: $$(x, y)$$. The Boolean sum of $$x$$ and $$y$$ is usually written as $$x + y$$, or $$x \vee y$$.

The output of the Boolean sum is defined by:

$0 + 0 = 0$$0 + 1 = 1$$1 + 0 = 1$$1 + 1 = 1$

This looks familiar so far except for the $$1 + 1 = 1$$ part. The Boolean sum operator is also called OR because the output of $$x$$ or $$y$$ equals 1 if and only if $$x = 1$$, or $$y = 1$$, or both.

Product Operator¶

The product (or conjunction) operator is also a binary operator. The Boolean product of $$x$$ and $$y$$ is usually written as $$x \cdot y$$, or $$x \wedge y$$.

The output of the Boolean product is defined by:

$0 \cdot 0 = 0$$0 \cdot 1 = 0$$1 \cdot 0 = 0$$1 \cdot 1 = 1$

As you can see, the product operator looks exactly like normal multiplication. The Boolean product is also called AND because the output of $$x$$ and $$y$$ equals 1 if and only if both $$x = 1$$, and $$y = 1$$.

Other Binary Operators¶

For reference, here is a table of all binary Boolean operators:

$$f$$ $$g$$ 0 $$f \downarrow g$$ $$f < g$$ $$f'$$ $$f > g$$ $$g'$$ $$f \ne g$$ $$f \uparrow g$$ $$f \cdot g$$ $$f = g$$ $$g$$ $$f \le g$$ $$f$$ $$f \ge g$$ $$f + g$$ 1
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

• $$f \downarrow g$$ is the binary NOR (not or) operator.
• $$f \uparrow g$$ is the binary NAND (not and) operator.
• $$f \leq g$$ is commonly written using the binary implication operator $$f \implies g$$.
• $$f = g$$ is commonly written using either the binary equivalence operator $$f \iff g$$, or the binary XNOR (exclusive nor) operator $$f \odot g$$.
• $$f \ne g$$ is commonly written using the binary XOR (exclusive or) operator $$f \oplus g$$.

You are probably thinking this is all very nice, but what can you possibly do with an algebra that only concerns itself with 0, 1, NOT, OR, and AND?

In 1937, Claude Shannon realized that electronic circuits have two-value switches that can be combined into networks capable of solving any logical or numeric relationship. A transistor is nothing but an electrical switch. Similar to a light bulb, it has two states: off (0), and on (1). Wiring transistors together in serial imitates the AND operator, and wiring them together in parallel imitates the OR operator. If you wire a few thousand transistors together in interesting ways, you can build a computer.

Import Symbols from PyEDA¶

All examples in this document require that you execute the following statements in your interpreter:

>>> from pyeda.inter import *


If you want to see all the symbols you import with this statement, look into pyeda/inter.py.

Note

Using the from ... import * syntax is generally frowned upon for Python programming, but is extremely convenient for interactive use.

Built-in Python Boolean Operations¶

Python has a built-in Boolean data type, bool. You can think of the False keyword as an alias for the number 0, and the True keyword as an alias for the number 1.

>>> int(False)
0
>>> int(True)
1
>>> bool(0)
False
>>> bool(1)
True


The keywords for complement, sum, and product are not, or, and.

>>> not True
False
>>> True or False
True
>>> True and False
False


You can use the Python interpreter to evaluate complex expressions:

>>> (True and False) or not (False or True)
False


PyEDA recognizes False, 0, and '0' as Boolean zero (0), and True, 1, and '1' as Boolean one (1). You can use the int function to manually convert the bool and str data types to integers:

>>> int(True)
1
>>> int('0')
0


Boolean Variables¶

Okay, so we already know what Boolean Algebra is, and Python can already do everything we need, right?

Just like in high school algebra, things start to get interesting when we introduce a few variables.

A Boolean variable is an abstract numerical quantity that may assume any value in the set $$B = \{0, 1\}$$.

For example, if we flip a coin, the result will either be “heads” or “tails”. Let’s say we assign tails the value $$0$$, and heads the value $$1$$. Now divide all of time into two periods: 1) before the flip, and 2) after the flip.

Before you flip the coin, imagine the possibility of either “tails” (0) or “heads” (1). The abstract concept in your mind about a coin that may land in one of two ways is the variable. Normally, we will give the abstract quantity a name to distinguish it from other abstract quantities we might be simultaneously considering. The most familiar name for an arbitrary algebraic variable is $$x$$.

After you flip the coin, you can see the result in front of you. The coin flip is no longer an imaginary variable; it is a known constant.

Creating Variable Instances¶

Let’s create a few Boolean expression variables using the exprvar method:

>>> a, b, c, d = map(exprvar, 'abcd')
>>> a.name
a
>>> b.name
b


By default, all variables go into a global namespace. Also, all variable instances are singletons. That is, only one variable is allowed to exist per name. Verify this fact with the following:

>>> a = exprvar('a')
>>> _a = exprvar('a')
>>> id(a) == id(_a)
True


Warning

We recommend that you never do something crazy like assigning a and _a to the same variable instance.

Indexing Variables¶

“There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things.”

—Tim Bray

Consider the coin-flipping example from before. But this time, instead of flipping one coin, we want to flip a hundred coins. You could start naming your variables by assigning the first flip to $$x$$, followed by $$y$$, and so on. But there are only twenty-six letters in the English alphabet, so unless we start resorting to other alphabets, we will hit some limitations with this system very quickly.

For cases like these, it is convenient to give variables an index. Then, you can name the variable for the first coin flip $$x[0]$$, followed by $$x[1]$$, $$x[2]$$, and so on.

Here is how to give variables indices using the exprvar function:

>>> x_0 = exprvar('x', 0)
>>> x_1 = exprvar('x', 1)
>>> x_0, x_1
(x[0], x[1])


You can even give variables multiple indices by using a tuple:

>>> x_0_1_2_3 = exprvar('x', (0, 1, 2 ,3))
>>> x_0_1_2_3
x[0,1,2,3]


Assigning individual variables names like this is a bit cumbersome. It is much easier to just use the exprvars factory function:

>>> X = exprvars('x', 8)
>>> X
[x[0], x[1], x[2], x[3], x[4], x[5], x[6], x[7]]
>>> X[3]
x[3]
>>> X[2:5]
[x[2], x[3], x[4]]
>>> X[:5]
[x[0], x[1], x[2], x[3], x[4]]
>>> X[5:]
[x[5], x[6], x[7]]
>>> X[-1]
x[7]


Similary for multi-dimensional bit vectors:

>>> X = exprvars('x', 4, 4)
>>> X
farray([[x[0,0], x[0,1], x[0,2], x[0,3]],
[x[1,0], x[1,1], x[1,2], x[1,3]],
[x[2,0], x[2,1], x[2,2], x[2,3]],
[x[3,0], x[3,1], x[3,2], x[3,3]]])
>>> X[2]
farray([x[2,0], x[2,1], x[2,2], x[2,3]])
>>> X[2,2]
x[2,2]
>>> X[1:3]
farray([[x[1,0], x[1,1], x[1,2], x[1,3]],
[x[2,0], x[2,1], x[2,2], x[2,3]]])
>>> X[1:3,2]
farray([x[1,2], x[2,2]])
>>> X[2,1:3]
farray([x[2,1], x[2,2]])
>>> X[-1,-1]
x[3,3]


Points in Boolean Space¶

Before we talk about Boolean functions, it will be useful to discuss the nature of Boolean space.

In high school algebra, you started with functions that looked like $$f(x) = 2x + 3$$. Later, you probably investigated slightly more interesting functions such as $$f(x) = x^2$$, $$f(x) = sin(x)$$, and $$f(x) = e^x$$. All of these are functions of a single variable. That is, the domain of these functions is the set of all values the variable $$x$$ can take. In all these cases, that domain is $$[-\infty, +\infty]$$.

Remember that variables in Boolean algebra can only take values of 0 or 1. So to create interesting functions in Boolean algebra, you use many variables.

Let’s revisit the coin-flipping example again. This time we will flip the coin exactly twice. Create a variable $$x$$ to represent the result of the first flip, and a variable $$y$$ to represent the result of the second flip. Use zero (0) to represent “tails”, and one (1) to represent “heads”.

The number of variables you use is called the dimension. All the possible outcomes of this experiment is called the space. Each possible outcome is called a point.

If you flip the coin twice, and the result is (heads, tails), that result is point $$(1, 0)$$ in a 2-dimensional Boolean space.

Use the iter_points generator to iterate through all possible points in an N-dimensional Boolean space:

>>> list(iter_points([x, y]))
[{x: 0, y: 0}, {x: 1, y: 0}, {x: 0, y: 1}, {x: 1, y: 1}]


PyEDA uses a dictionary to represent a point. The keys of the dictionary are the variable instances, and the values are numbers in $${0, 1}$$.

Try doing the experiment with three coin flips. Use the variable $$z$$ to represent the result of the third flip.

>>> list(iter_points([z, y, x]))
[{x: 0, y: 0, z: 0},
{x: 0, y: 0, z: 1},
{x: 0, y: 1, z: 0},
{x: 0, y: 1, z: 1},
{x: 1, y: 0, z: 0},
{x: 1, y: 0, z: 1},
{x: 1, y: 1, z: 0},
{x: 1, y: 1, z: 1}]


The observant reader will notice that this is equivalent to:

• generating all bit-strings of length $$N$$
• counting from 0 to 7 in the binary number system

Boolean Functions¶

A Boolean function is a rule that maps points in an $$N$$-dimensional Boolean space to an element in $$\{0, 1\}$$. In formal mathematical lingo, $$f: B^N \Rightarrow B$$, where $$B^N$$ means the Cartesian product of $$N$$ Boolean variables, $$v \in \{0, 1\}$$. For example, if you have three input variables, $$a, b, c$$, then $$B^3 = a \times b \times c = \{(0, 0, 0), (0, 0, 1), (0, 1, 0), (0, 1, 1), (1, 0, 0), (1, 0, 1), (1, 1, 0), (1, 1, 1)\}$$. $$B^3$$ is the domain of the function (the input part), and $$B = \{0, 1\}$$ is the range of the function (the output part).

In the relevant literature, you might see a Boolean function described as a type of relation, or geometrically as a cube. These are valid descriptions, but we will use a familiar analogy for better understanding.

A Boolean function is somewhat like a game, where the player takes $$N$$ binary input turns (eg heads/tails), and there is a binary result determined by a rule (eg win/loss). Let’s revisit the coin-flipping example. One possible game is that we will flip the coin three times, and it will be considered a “win” if heads comes up all three.

Summarize the game using a truth table.

$$x_0$$ $$x_1$$ $$x_2$$ $$f$$
0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0
0 1 1 0
1 0 0 0
1 0 1 0
1 1 0 0
1 1 1 1

You can create the equivalent truth table with PyEDA like so:

>>> X = exprvars('x', 3)
>>> f = truthtable(X, "00000001")
>>> f
inputs: x[2] x[1] x[0]
000 0
001 0
010 0
011 0
100 0
101 0
110 0
111 1


Don’t be alarmed that the inputs are displayed most-significant-bit first. That can actually come in handy sometimes.

The game from the previous example can be expressed as the expression $$f(x_0, x_1, x_2) = x_0 \cdot x_1 \cdot x_2$$. It is generally not convenient to list all the input variables, so we will normally shorten that statement to just $$f = x_0 \cdot x_1 \cdot x_2$$.

>>> truthtable2expr(f)
And(x[0], x[1], x[2])


Let’s define another game with a slightly more interesting rule: “you win if the majority of flips come up heads”.

$$x_0$$ $$x_1$$ $$x_2$$ $$f$$
0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0
0 1 1 1
1 0 0 0
1 0 1 1
1 1 0 1
1 1 1 1

This is a three-variable form of the “majority” function. You can express it as a truth table:

>>> f = truthtable(X, "00010111")
>>> f
inputs: x[2] x[1] x[0]
000 0
001 0
010 0
011 1
100 0
101 1
110 1
111 1


or as an expression:

>>> truthtable2expr(f)
Or(And(~x[0], x[1], x[2]), And(x[0], ~x[1], x[2]), And(x[0], x[1], ~x[2]), And(x[0], x[1], x[2]))


PyEDA Variable/Function Base Classes¶

Now that we have a better understanding of Boolean variables and functions, we will dive into how PyEDA models them.

We have already seen a glance of the type of data structure used to represent Boolean functions (tables and expressions). There are actually several of these representations, including (but not limited to):

• Truth tables
• Implicant tables
• Logic expressions
• Decision diagrams, including:
• Binary decision diagrams (BDD)
• Reduced, ordered binary decisions diagrams (ROBDD)
• Zero-suppressed decision diagrams (ZDD)
• And inverter graphs (AIG)

Each data type has strengths and weaknesses. For example, ROBDDs are a canonical form, which make proofs of formal equivalence very cheap. On the other hand, ROBDDs can be exponential in size in many cases, which makes them memory-constrained.

The following sections show the abstract base classes for Boolean variables and functions defined in pyeda.boolalg.boolfunc.

Boolean Variables¶

In order to easily support algebraic operations on Boolean functions, each function representation has a corresponding variable representation. For example, truth table variables are instances of TruthTableVariable, and expression variables are instances of ExpressionVariable, both of which inherit from Variable.

class pyeda.boolalg.boolfunc.Variable(names, indices)[source]

Base class for a symbolic Boolean variable.

A Boolean variable is an abstract numerical quantity that may assume any value in the set $$B = \{0, 1\}$$.

Note

Do NOT instantiate a Variable directly. Instead, use one of the concrete implementations: pyeda.boolalg.bdd.bddvar() pyeda.boolalg.expr.exprvar(), pyeda.boolalg.table.ttvar().

A variable is defined by one or more names, and zero or more indices. Multiple names establish hierarchical namespaces, and multiple indices group several related variables.

Each variable has a unique, positive integer called the uniqid. This integer may be used to identify a variable that is represented by more than one data structure. For example, bddvar('a', 0) and exprvar('a', 0) will refer to two different Variable instances, but both will share the same uniqid.

All variables are implicitly ordered. If two variable names are identical, compare their indices. Otherwise, do a string comparison of their names. This is only useful where variable order matters, and is not meaningful in any algebraic sense.

For example, the following statements are true:

• a == a
• a < b
• a[0] < a[1]
• a[0][1] < a[0][2]
name[source]

Return the innermost variable name.

qualname[source]

Return the fully qualified name.

Boolean Functions¶

This is the abstract base class for Boolean function representations.

In addition to the methods and properties listed below, classes inheriting from Function should also overload the __invert__, __or__, __and__, and __xor__ magic methods. This makes it possible to perform symbolic, algebraic manipulations using a Python interpreter.

class pyeda.boolalg.boolfunc.Function[source]

Abstract base class that defines an interface for a symbolic Boolean function of $$N$$ variables.

support[source]

Return the support set of a function.

Let $$f(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n)$$ be a Boolean function of $$N$$ variables.

The unordered set $$\{x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n\}$$ is called the support of the function.

usupport[source]

Return the untyped support set of a function.

inputs[source]

Return the support set in name/index order.

top[source]

Return the first variable in the ordered support set.

degree[source]

Return the degree of a function.

A function from $$B^{N} \Rightarrow B$$ is called a Boolean function of degree $$N$$.

cardinality[source]

Return the cardinality of the relation $$B^{N} \Rightarrow B$$.

Always equal to $$2^{N}$$.

iter_domain()[source]

Iterate through all points in the domain.

iter_image()[source]

Iterate through all elements in the image.

iter_relation()[source]

Iterate through all (point, element) pairs in the relation.

restrict(point)[source]

Return the Boolean function that results after restricting a subset of its input variables to $$\{0, 1\}$$.

$$f \: | \: x_i = b$$

vrestrict(vpoint)[source]

Expand all vectors before applying ‘restrict’.

compose(mapping)[source]

Return the Boolean function that results after substituting a subset of its input variables for other Boolean functions.

$$f_1 \: | \: x_i = f_2$$

satisfy_one()[source]

If this function is satisfiable, return a satisfying input point. A tautology may return a zero-dimensional point; a contradiction must return None.

satisfy_all()[source]

Iterate through all satisfying input points.

satisfy_count()[source]

Return the cardinality of the set of all satisfying input points.

iter_cofactors(vs=None)[source]

Iterate through the cofactors of a function over N variables.

The vs argument is a sequence of $$N$$ Boolean variables.

The cofactor of $$f(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_i, \dots, x_n)$$ with respect to variable $$x_i$$ is: $$f_{x_i} = f(x_1, x_2, \dots, 1, \dots, x_n)$$

The cofactor of $$f(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_i, \dots, x_n)$$ with respect to variable $$x_i'$$ is: $$f_{x_i'} = f(x_1, x_2, \dots, 0, \dots, x_n)$$

cofactors(vs=None)[source]

Return a tuple of the cofactors of a function over N variables.

The vs argument is a sequence of $$N$$ Boolean variables.

The cofactor of $$f(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_i, \dots, x_n)$$ with respect to variable $$x_i$$ is: $$f_{x_i} = f(x_1, x_2, \dots, 1, \dots, x_n)$$

The cofactor of $$f(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_i, \dots, x_n)$$ with respect to variable $$x_i'$$ is: $$f_{x_i'} = f(x_1, x_2, \dots, 0, \dots, x_n)$$

smoothing(vs=None)[source]

Return the smoothing of a function over a sequence of N variables.

The vs argument is a sequence of $$N$$ Boolean variables.

The smoothing of $$f(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_i, \dots, x_n)$$ with respect to variable $$x_i$$ is: $$S_{x_i}(f) = f_{x_i} + f_{x_i'}$$

This is the same as the existential quantification operator: $$\exists \{x_1, x_2, \dots\} \: f$$

consensus(vs=None)[source]

Return the consensus of a function over a sequence of N variables.

The vs argument is a sequence of $$N$$ Boolean variables.

The consensus of $$f(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_i, \dots, x_n)$$ with respect to variable $$x_i$$ is: $$C_{x_i}(f) = f_{x_i} \cdot f_{x_i'}$$

This is the same as the universal quantification operator: $$\forall \{x_1, x_2, \dots\} \: f$$

derivative(vs=None)[source]

Return the derivative of a function over a sequence of N variables.

The vs argument is a sequence of $$N$$ Boolean variables.

The derivative of $$f(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_i, \dots, x_n)$$ with respect to variable $$x_i$$ is: $$\frac{\partial}{\partial x_i} f = f_{x_i} \oplus f_{x_i'}$$

This is also known as the Boolean difference.

is_zero()[source]

Return whether this function is zero.

Note

This method will only look for a particular “zero form”, and will NOT do a full search for a contradiction.

is_one()[source]

Return whether this function is one.

Note

This method will only look for a particular “one form”, and will NOT do a full search for a tautology.

static box(obj)[source]

Convert primitive types to a Function.

unbox()[source]

Return integer 0 or 1 if possible, otherwise return the Function.