A Tabular Minimization Procedure for Ternary Switching Functions

A tabular minimization procedure for ternary switching functions is developed. The theory is analogous to that used in the McCluskey simplification method for Boolean functions. Using the ternary function truth table, the procedure provides a systematic method of applying a limited set of reduction rules in a converging process for obtaining a minimal irredundant form of the function. It is shown how the procedure can be used to derive simplified expressions for arbitrary ternary functions in terms of a particularly attractive system of threshold gating functions. The procedure has more general applications in providing a simple method of finding, for any given function, all binary variables of the function and all variables of which the function is independent.