Factorization of multi-valued logic functions

This paper describes an approach to factorization of multi-valued logic (MVL) functions. The key concept is to formulate the problem as a rectangular covering problem. At first, we develop an MVL algebraic factorization algorithm. Then, by incorporating two MVL Boolean properties: 'identical' and 'complementary', we further improve the purely algebraic factorization algorithm be a Boolean one. The algorithm can perform a subset of Boolean factorization with approximately the same complexity as the algebraic one but obtain a better factorization for MVL functions. Experimental results show that the multilevel implementation, synthesized by the Boolean method, for MVL example functions can have 45.4% cost saving over the two-level implementation, and the improved Boolean factorization algorithm can have additional 13.7% cost saving over the algebraic one.