A procedure for efficient FIR filter design using prefilters

Digital FIR (finite-impulse response) prefilter structures with periodic impulse response are introduced. By appropriately cascading these prefilters, large stopband attenuation can be obtained, relieving the task of the equalizer. A systematic design procedure for the cascade of prefilters and the equalizer is given, leading to computationally efficient FIR filters. Design examples are included, demonstrating that the proposed design procedure leads to significant savings in the number of arithmetic operations as compared to recent proposed designs.<>