TABLE OF CONTENTS Binary logic deals with variables that have two discrete values 1 for TRUE and 0 for FALSE. A simple switching circuit containing active elements such as a diode and transistor can demonstrate the binary logic, which can either be ON (switch closed) or OFF (switch open). Electrical signals such as voltage and current exist in the digital system in either one of the two recognized values, except during transition.
The switching functions can be expressed with Boolean equations. Complex Boolean equations can be simplified by a new kind of algebra, which is popularly called Switching Algebra or Boolean Algebra, invented by the mathematician George Boole in 1854. Boolean Algebra deals with the rules by which logical operations are carried out.
Boolean algebra, like any other deductive mathematical system, may be defined with a set of elements, a set of operators, and a number of assumptions and postulates. A set of elements means any collection of objects having common properties. If S denotes a set, and X and Y are certain objects, then X ? S denotes X is an object of set S, whereas Y ? denotes Y is not the object of set S. A binary operator defined on a set S of elements is a rule that assigns to each pair of elements from S a unique element from S. As an example, consider this relation X*Y = Z. This implies that * is a binary operator if it specifies a...
