Finite Impulse Response

FIR
Finite impulse response (FIR) filters that have
only a finite number of terms in their impulse
response. These filters have a number of
advantages over the IIR filter types.
An FIR filter is always stable, realizable, and
provides a linear phase response under
specific conditions. These characteristics
make FIR filters attractive to many filter
designers.

Characteristics of FIR Filters

Type 1 FIR filters

Type 2 FIR filters
Type 3 FIR filters
Type 4 FIR filters

Type 1 FIR filters

The type 1 FIR filters, which have
symmetric coefficients and odd length, also
have a frequency response that has even
symmetry about both = 0 and = .
This even symmetry allows the frequency
response to take on any value at these two
critical frequencies, and thus lowpass,
highpass, bandpass, and bandstop filters
can be implemented using this FIR type.

Type 2 FIR filters

The type 2 FIR filters, which have
symmetric coefficients and even length,
have a frequency response that is even
about = 0 and odd about = .
This condition dictates that the response
at = be zero and thus type 2 FIR
filters are not recommended for highpass
or bandstop filters.

Type 3 FIR filters

The type 3 FIR filters, which have antisymmetric
coefficients and odd length, have a frequency
response that has odd symmetry at both = 0
and = .
The frequency response of this filter type must be
zero at both of these two critical frequencies.
It is not recommended for lowpass, highpass, or
bandstop filters.
However, this type of filter does provide a
90phase shift of the output signal with respect to
the input and therefore can be used to implement
a differentiator or Hilbert transformer.

Type 4 FIR filters

The type 4 FIR filters, which have antisymmetric
coefficients and even length, have a frequency
response that has odd symmetry about = 0
and even symmetry about = .
The odd symmetry condition makes this type of
filter a poor choice to implement either lowpass
or bandstop filters.
This filter also provides a 90 phase shift that
makes it able to implement differentiators and
Hilbert transformers.

Determining Ideal Coefficients for

an FIR Filter
Lowpass filter specification.

sin[(n ) c ]
, for n

hLP (n)
(n )

c / , for n

n 0,1,...,2M

Determining Ideal Coefficients for

an FIR Filter
Highpass filter specification.

sin[(n ) ] sin[(n ) c ]
, for

hHP (n)
(n )

( c ) / , for n

n 0,1,...,2 M

Determining Ideal Coefficients for

an FIR Filter
Bandpass filter specification.

sin[(n ) c 2 ] sin[(n ) c1 ]
, for

hBP (n)
(n )

( c 2 c1 ) / , for n

n 0,1,...,2 M

Determining Ideal Coefficients for

an FIR Filter
Bandstop filter specification.

sin[(n ) ] sin[(n )c 2 ] sin[(n ) c1 ]

, for

hBS (n)
(n )

( c 2 c1 ) / , for n
n 0,1,...,2M

Determining Ideal Coefficients for

an FIR Filter
Bandstop filter specification.
N 1

linear phase shift (or constant

groupdelay)

h( n) h( n)

symmetric

h( n) h( n)

anti-symmetric

Determining Ideal Coefficients for

an FIR Filter
Example:
Determine the ideal impulse response
coefficients for a lowpass filter of length
21 to satisfy the following specifications:
pass = 23,000 rad/sec, stop = 24,000
rad/sec, and fs = 20 kHz

Windowing
Applying a rectangular window function
in which all window coefficients with
indices within the range of the window
have a value of 1 and all other coefficients
have a value of 0. The retained values of
the filter coefficients would then be
determined by performing a coefficient-bycoefficient multiplication of the ideal
coefficients and the window coefficients, as
indicated in
h(n) hideal (n) w(n), n 0,1,..., M

Window Selection of Coefficients

1. Rectangular Window

wrect (n) wrect (n) 1, n 0,1,..., M

2. Bartlett Window

( M n)
wbart (n) wbart ( n)
, n 0,1,..., M
M

3. Hann Window

( M n)
whann (n) whann (n) 0.5 1 cos

n 0,1,..., M

Window Selection of Coefficients

4. Hamming Window

( M n)
whamm (n) whamm ( n) 0.54 0.46 cos
,

n 0,1,..., M

5. Blackman Window

( M n)
wblck (n) whamm ( n) 0.42 0.5 cos

2 ( M n)
0.08 cos
, n 0,1,..., M

Window Selection of Coefficients

Bartlett, Blackman, Hamming, and von

Hann windows.

Window Selection of Coefficients

6. Kaiser Window

2n

M

Io 1

wkais (n) wkais ( n)

Io ( )
n 0,1,..., M

Window Selection of Coefficients

Kaiser windows with various values.

Window Selection of Coefficients

Example:
Determine the coefficients for a lowpass
filter using a Hamming window of length
21 to satisfy the specifications shown
below:
pass = 23,000 rad/sec, stop = 24,000
rad/sec, and fs = 20 kHz