Double precision FIR filtering for high resolution digital spectroscopy in programmable logic

High resolutions in nuclear spectroscopy are mandatory in many applications and can be achieved by using digital processing techniques, a lot of which are based on the FIR filter operator. Currently, the use of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) as digital processors is hugely increasing, especially in real time applications. In this paper, we deal with the problem of the loss of precision of the filter coefficients values when they are implemented into the electronic configurable devices. The proposed solution keeps valid the full precision of the filter synthesis algorithms by using a double precision floating point architecture for filter implementation in FPGAs.