difference between sum of products and sum of minterms
Canonical normal form Two dual canonical forms of any Boolean function are a "sum of minterms" and a "product of maxterms." The term "Sum of Products" or "SoP" is widely used for the canonical form that is a disjunction (OR) of minterms. Its De Morgan dual is a "Product of Sums" or "PoS" for the canonical form that is a conjunction (AND) of maxterms. These forms can be useful for the simplification of these functions, which is of great importance in the optimization of Boolean formulas in general and digital circuits in particular.