Pages created and updated by Terry Sturtevant Date Posted: May 12, 2017

Maple Logic Tutorial

Maple is a commercial program. It is a computer algebra system (CAS) like Maxima or Mathematica.
There are various tutorials out there on how to use Maple; this one is designed to focus on its use for digital circuit analysis; i.e. lots of use of Boolean algebra.

Sample Digital Logic Circuit

Here is a simple circuit:
Prime Number Indentifier Circuit

It gives us the following boolean Sum-Of-Products (SOP) equation :

prime = a₃ a₂ a₁ + a₃ a₂ a₀ + a₂ a₁ a₀ + a₂ a₁ a₀

A computer algebra system can be very useful for analyzing circuits like this.

1. Opening Maple

2. Entering Equations

3. Saving a Session

4. Quitting Maple

5. Loading a Previous Session

6. Redefining Variables

7. Links

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1. Opening Maple:
   • Open Maple from the menu or from its icon on the desktop.
     
     
2. Entering Equations:
   • 
     
     To enter a boolean equation,
     At the prompt, type in the the command as shown:
     

       t1:= (not a3) and (not a2 and a1); 
                         (not a3) and (not a2) and a1
     
     

     
     This is the first term in the equation; we can type in each term separately to keep them all straight.
     

      t2:= (not a3) and (a2 and a0); 
                            (not a3) and a2 and a0
      t3:=(not a2) and (a1 and a0); 
                            (not a2) and a1 and a0
      t4:=(not a1) and (a2 and a0); 
                            (not a1) and a2 and a0
     

     
     We can combine the individual terms easily by their names, like this:
     

       result:= t1 or t2 or t3 or t4;
      ((not a3) and (not a2) and a1) or ((not a3) and a2 and a0)
                             or ((not a2) and a1 and a0) or ((not a1) and a2 and a0)
     

     
     
     
     Now result represents the complete expression for the function.
   • You can substitute in specific component values:
     

      subs( a0=false, a1=false,a2=false, a3=false,result);
                                     false
     

     
     
     
   • You can repeat the previous instruction with each of the different input possibilities to check the entire function.
     
     
     
     
   • You can print the session for future reference as well..
     
     
     
     
3. Saving a Session:
   • Saving a session: From the menu, choose the option to save.
     
     
     
     
     
4. Quitting Maple:
   • Quitting maple: Choose Exit from the menu.
     
     
     
5. Loading a Previous Session:
   • It's nice to be able to pick up where you left off, so you can keep developing an analysis over time.
     To loading a previous session:
     
     
     Everything should be just as you left it.
     
     
   • Previous statements can be re-executed and/or altered.
     
     
6. Redefining Variables:
   • Variables can be changed by simply editing the lines on which they are defined and hitting Enter again.
     
     
     We can continue on, substituting all of the input variable combinations.
7. Links:
   • Maple Online Help [HTML; ]
     The official online documentation
   • Maple Tutorial [HTML; Texas A & M University]
     Lots of examples

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