16.8 Chapter 16
the signal path.
The direct form of Eq 8 may be factored
into 2-pole sections and implemented in
cascaded form. The output of each section
serves as the input to the next. See Fig 16.7.
This configuration requires a few more
multiplications than the direct form, but suf-
fers less from instability problems that may
plague IIR filters. Since feedback is being
used, IIR filters are not necessarily uncon-
ditionally stable. They also tend to be prone
to limit cycles, low-level oscillations that
arise near the lower end of the dynamic
range. For these and other reasons, data and
coefficient storage should be cleared or set
to zero before processing begins.
A Simple Digital Notch Filter
Along with common LPFs, HPFs and
BPFs, radio designers are interested in one
other type of filter, the notch. While most
filter-design software can generate notch
filters using FIR methods discussed above,
Widrow and Stearns have described an un-
usual type in which the number of taps is
minimized. In fact, they were able to prove
that only two taps are needed for each fre-
quency to be notched. This is great, since it
reduces computation to almost nil. We will
take a look at it here and touch briefly on
some of the theory of adaptive signal pro-
cessing, treated in depth later.
The situation is this: We want to copy a
broadband signal, such as an SSB phone
signal, and suddenly a dreadful carrier
appears in the passband. Our notch filter
will remove it and we will have complete
control over the notch width, as well as a
notch depth limited only by the bit resolu-
tion of our system. Dr Widrow found that
one can build a filtering system that mini-
mizes repetitive signal energy by altering
the filter coefficients “on the fly” using a
certain algorithm. Known as the least-
mean-squares (LMS) method, it describes
a way to adjust filter coefficients over time
to remove undesired, steady tones in the
input. A complex reference signal is used
at the exact frequency of the offending
tone. The algorithm then forms a BPF cen-
tered at the tone frequency whose output
is subtracted from the input to create the
notch. The block diagram of a two-tap
system is shown in Fig 16.8.
The broadband input is called x(t). The
reference input consists of two signals, cos
(ω
0
t) and sin (ω
0
t). These signals feed
multipliers having coefficients h(1) and
h(2), which in turn feed an accumulator
just as in a normal FIR filter. This is the
BPF output; it is subtracted from the input
to form the notch output, e(t). Note that
the BPF output is also available at no ad-
ditional overhead. While the initial values
of the coefficients are unimportant to the
steady state, the procedure for updating
them with the LMS algorithm is:
)2(μe(t)x2)2(h)2(h
)1(μe(t)x2)1(h)1(h
tt1t
tt1t
+=
+=
+
+
(9)
where 0 < μ < 1. Analysis shows that as the
reference inputs are sinusoidal, the system
is linear and time-invariant for output e(t),
although the coefficient values do not nec-
essarily approach any fixed value. The 3-dB
BW of the notch is:
rad/s
t
μA2
BW
s
2
=
(10)
The Q of the filter may be readily com-
puted. Thus, we have control over the BW
by varying the factor μ and the amplitude of
the reference signal. The depth of the null is,
in general, superior to that of a fixed filter
because the algorithm tracks the correct
phase relationship for ideal cancellation,
even if the reference frequency is changing
slowly with the offending tone. Each addi-
tional tone to be notched demands two addi-
tional taps in the filter. Noise in the input
may cause us to have to add more taps to
maintain sufficient accuracy. Additional
detail of adaptive signal processing will be
found below and in material shown in the
Bibliography.
Lattice and Other Structures
While many filter-design software
packages do not have the capability to
work with them, lattice structures and
other types of digital filters have seen use,
especially in adaptive signal processing.
Crystal and mechanical lattice filters are
common elements of many transceivers.
A digital lattice or ladder filter is a lot like
its analog brother. The design of digital
lattice filters is similar as well. Digital
lattice filters may be either FIR or IIR.
Also note that from the IIR cascade form
above, we can derive a parallel form that
may be computationally beneficial in
some cases. The design of this kind of fil-
ter is a very complicated session in partial
fraction expansion. Widrow and Stearns
provide more information on these and
other exotic concepts.
Fig 16.8—Block diagram of a two-tap, adaptive notch filter.
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