362
2, FEBRUARY 2019
A Novel 2-D FIR Filter Design Methodology Based
on a Gaussian-Based Approximation
Giacomo Capizzi
Abstract—This letter presents a novel design method for mul-
tidimensional finite-impulse response (FlR) filters based on the
representation of the desired frequency response by using a Gabor
system generated by a Gaussian function. A direct synthesis of the
desired filter frequency response is obtained from standard design
specifications. Further, we report some comparative tests with the
well known Parks–McClellan’s methodology in order to illustrate
the concrete advantages of the novel design approach that we have
proposed. With such an approach, the design procedure turns out
to be especially simple to implement, as it employs closed design
formulas which directly link filter coefficients to design specifica-
tions, and moreover, affords a better pass-band flatness than any
known design approach. It also yields stop-band attenuations and
grants control over critical frequencies, which turn out being very
close to those obtainable with Parks–McClellan method. The en-
hanced performance of the 2-D filters thus obtained are well suited
for space applications.
Index Terms—Multidimensional FIR filter design, closed-form
FIR tap coefficients, Gabor system, equispaced Gaussian functions.
I. INTRODUCTION
HE conventionally used approaches to 2D FIR filter de-
T sign fall under the following categories: the window-based
methods, the frequency sampling methods, the optimal filter de-
sign and the transfomation methods. The first three are exten-
sions of 1D methods which generally do not explicitly optimize
the desired filter specifications. Further, in the above approaches
not all filter specifications can be directly linked to design pa-
rameters [1]–[5].
Recently several authors proposed a number of design meth-
ods. In [6]–[8] are presented three approaches to the 2D FIR
filter design, in which the design problem is formulated as an
optimization problem. The methods described in [6], [7] re-
quire the property of the quadrantally even symmetric of the
filter impulse response in order to mitigate the computational
complexity, typical of the optimization problems. This peculiar-
ity limits the applicability of these design methods to the cases
of filters whose impulse response presents a similar symmetry.
Instead the design method presented in [8] is a 1D FIR filter de-
sign method that provide performances similar to the methods
Manuscript received November 11, 2018; revised January 5, 2019; accepted
January 7, 2019. Date of publication January 9, 2019; date of current version
January 21, 2019. The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript
and approving it for publication was Dr. Demetrio Labate. (Corresponding
author: Giacomo Capizzi.)
The authors are with the Department of Electrical, Electronics and In-
formatics Engineering, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy (e-mail:,
gcapizzi@diees.unict.it; glosciuto@dii.unict.it).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LSP.2019.2891965
1070-9908 © 2019 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
IEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING LETTERS, VOL. 26, NO.
and Grazia Lo Sciuto
based on optimization techniques present in the literature. While
in [9] are shown some examples of hardware implementation of
FIR filters.
In this work we present a novel methodology for the design of
multidimensional FIR filters, based on the representation of the
desired frequency response by means of a Gabor system gener-
ated by the Gaussian function [10]–[12]. The proposed design
approach will therefore be termed Gaussian Based Approxima-
tion or GBA for short. GBA is innovative under two respects:
it does not fall under any of the conventional aforementioned
approaches, and attempts a direct synthesis of the desired filter
frequency response, thus avoiding the costly iterative compu-
tations of most conventional methods [13]. As a result of this
simplicity and effectiveness, the proposed GBA methodology
is especially suitable for on board digital signal processing in
space applications [14]. For example in [15] was used an adap-
tive Wiener filtering algorithm (2D-CSAWF) for the denois-
ing of satellite images contaminated with Gaussian noise. The
2D-CSAWF is a two-dimensional adaptive FIR driven by an
optimization algorithm to self-adjust the filter coefficients. In
this application the use of GBA approach to calculate the filter
coefficients can be very effective because the GBA method is
very simple to implement and employs closed design fomulas,
directly linking the filter coefficients to design specifications.
The paper is structured as follows. In the first section the GBA
design procedure for 2D FIR filters is described in detail for
square and circular shaped filters (the extension to generic shape
is straightforward). In the results section, the perfomance of the
2D FIR filters designed following the proposed procedure are
illustrated by some significant examples and compared, where
applicable, with those yielded by the method of [2]. Furthermore
the proposed design procedure has been compared with the
recent 2D FIR-FDC method described in [6]. Finally, the authors
conclusions are drawn.
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE GBA DESIGN PROCEDURE
For the sake of simplicity we describe the GBA design pro-
cedure for the case of a 2D, square-shaped, low-pass FIR fil-
ter. The extension to more than two dimensions and arbitrary
shapes is easily practicable. ln particular a 2D rectangular filter
is straightforward to accommodate along the lines of the treat-
ment expounded in the sequel. The circular shape case is briefly
reported below.
ln the design of a 2D, square-shaped, low-pass filter with pass-
band and stop-band edges ωc and ωs respectively, the frequency
CAPIZZI AND SCIUTO: NOVEL 2-D FIR FILTER DESIGN METHODOLOGY BASED ON A GAUSSIAN-BASED APPROXIMATION 363

transition bandwidth ωs − ωc . I.e. , we set for all i and j:

σx i = σy j = σ = k · (ωs − ωc ) (4)
where k has been experimentally found to be 0.8.
The pairs (μx i , μy j ) around which each Gaussian in (2) is
centred are chosen to be equispaced by a common distance Δμ
along each of the ωx , and ωy , starting from the origin:
μx i = i · Δμ for i = −N1 , . . . , −1, 0, 1, . . . , N1
μy i = j · Δμ for j = −N1 , . . . , −1, 0, 1, . . . , N1 . (5)
The parameters Δμ and N1 in the above formulas are nicely
linked to some ofthe FIR specification parameters. The distance
Fig. 1. Arrangement of the Gaussian functions in the frequency plane. Δμ is linked to δ, the maximum ripple acceptable in the pass-
band, and to the transition bandwidth through σ and (4):
response usually considered as a starting point is: 
 Δμ = 2 −2σ 2 ln (1 − δ)
1 |ωx | < ωc and |ωy | < ωc
Hdr (ωx , ωy ) = (1)
0 |ωx | > ωs and |ωy | > ωs The bound N1 for both i and j (see (5)) is linked to the cutoff
frequency ωc and Δμ itself:
An approximate representation Hr , of Hdr (ωx , ωy ) in its ω

c
definition domain can be constructed as a linear combination of N1 = (6)
bidimensional Gaussian functions. I.e., we let, for some appro- Δμ
priate domain D over which the integer indices i, j range: It should be noted that this amounts to using a grid as the
domain D occurring in the expression (2) for the synthesized
Hr (ωx , ωy )
frequency response Hr (ωx , ωy ); this is a result of the filter

= ci,j Gσ x i ,σ y i (ωx , ωy )  δ(ωx − μx i, ωy − μy i ) (2) shape being a square. Other filter geometries would be reflected
i,j ∈D
by a change in D.
Finally, the coefficients ci,j in (2) are set to a common value
 denotes the convolution operator, δ(ωx − μx i , ωy − μy i ) is a 1/M, chosen so as to normalize the filter gain. M depends on the
bidimensional Dirac delta centred upon the (μx i , μy i ) point in design specifications through δ, σ and N1 .
the R2 space ranged over by (ωx , ωy ), and 
  1 
N1
  M= 1 + 2 (1 − δ)4∗i
2

ωx2 ωy2 2πσ 2

Gσ x ,σ y (ωx , ωy ) = A · exp − 2 · exp − 2 (3) i=1
2σx 2σy ⎞
N1 N1
(1 − δ)4∗i (1 − δ)4∗j ⎠
2 2 2
is a 2D separable Gaussian (where A is the normalization factor) +2 (1 − δ)4∗j + 4
obtained by the product of two 1D Gaussians with null means j =1 i,j =1
and standard deviations σx , and σy respectively. lt is worth (7)
noting that in (2) these null mean 2D Gaussians are actually
shfted by (μx i , μy i ) as a result of the convolution with the Dirac We now proceed to the synthesis of the desired 2D FIR fil-
delta. So the Gaussian functions are placed in the frequency ter, by suitably sampling the inverse 2D Fourier transform of
plane as shown in fig. 1 (the figure refers to the rectangular Hr (ωx , ωy ) (2), i.e. the filter impulse response. Thus, the coef-
shape case). ficient h(n, m) of the N × N order 2D FIR is, for N odd and
ln a nutshell, the GBA filter design approach consists in solv- −N/2 ≤ n, m ≤ N/2:
ing the approximation problem of minimizing the error norm of    
1 (nσ)2 (nσ)2
Hr (ωx , ωy ) with respect to the desired Hdr (ωx , ωy ) in (1). This h(n, m) = exp − · exp −
4π 2 M 2 2
requires choosing: ⎛
r the appropriate domain D where the pair (i, j) should range; 
N1 
N1
r for each (i, j) the appropriate coefncient ci,j and values of × ⎝1 + 2 cos (n · μx i ) + 2 cos (m · μy j )
μx and μy i; i=1 j =1
r fori each Gaussian, the appropriate standard deviations σx i ⎞
and σy i . 
N1
+4 cos (n · μx i ) · cos (m · μy j )⎠ (8)
An appropriate mathematical treatment of this problem con-
i,j =1
sists in the linking of the filter coefficients to design specifica-
tions by means of the design formulas introduced below, whose This provides the designer with closed design formulas di-
the derivation is obtained by extension of the formulas that can rectly linking the FIR filter coefficients to filter specifications.
be found in [12]. The design starts by fixing for all standard For a circular shape FIR filter, only a little adaptation is needed
deviations σx i and σy j a common value σ proportional to the in the expressions (7) and (8) giving the design parameter and
364 IEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING LETTERS, VOL. 26, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2019

the coefficients. I.e., the indices i and j in the double sum are
constrained to fall within a circle.
⎛
1 ⎜ 
N1
M= ⎜1 + 2 (1 − δ)4∗i
2

2πσ 2 ⎝
i=1

⎞

N1 
N1
2⎟
(1 − δ)4∗i (1 − δ)4∗j ⎟
2 2
+2 (1 − δ)4∗j + 4 ⎠
j =1 i,j=1
i 2 +j 2 ≤N 12
(9)
  
1 (nσ)2 (nσ)2
h(n, m) = exp − · exp −
4π 2 M 2 2
⎛ Fig. 2. Frequency response for a 2D, 11 × 11 order, square-shaped, low-pass
FIR filter: PM design.
⎜ 
N1 
N1
×⎜
⎝1 + 2 cos (n · μx i ) + 2 cos (m · μy j )
i=1 j =1

⎞

N1
⎟
+4 cos (n · μx i ) · cos (m · μy j )⎟
⎠
i,j=1
i 2 +j 2 ≤N 12
(10)

The extension to 3D case can be obtained following the lines

of the treatment above expounded by using three-dimensional
Gaussian functions:

Gσ x ,σ y ,σ z (ωx , ωy , ωy )
     
ωx2 ωy2 ω2
= A · exp − 2 · exp − 2 · exp − z2 (11)
2σx 2σy 2σz

Fig. 3. Frequency response for a 2D, 11 × 11 order, square-shaped, low-pass

III. RESULTS FIR filter: GBA 2-D design.
We begin by providing two examples of the results afforded
by the proposed GBA approach in the design of 2D square FIR
filters. The results obtained are compared to those yielded by
the Parks-McCIellans 2D (PM) procedure, which is generally
considered a significant benchmark. Furthermore the proposed
design procedure has been compared with the recent 2D FIR-
FDC method described in [6].
In both the examples reported, the critical frequencies of the
filters designed are ωc = 0.3 and ωs = 0.36.
The first example is the design of a 2D, square-shaped, low-
pass FIR filter of 11 × 11 . The PM procedure, applied with a
weight function of 0.7 in the pass-band and 1 in the stopband,
yields a stop-band attenuation of about −15 dB (see Fig. 2). On
the other hand, the GBA design procedure gives a noticeably
better attenuation of −21 dB (Fig. 3).
In the second example the filter order is raised to 21 × 21.
Applying the PM procedure, with a weight function of 0.9 in
the pass-band and 1 in the stop-band, leads to a stop-band at-
tenuation of about −16 dB (Fig. 4). Again, this figure can be Fig. 4. Frequency response for a 2D, 21 × 21 order, square-shaped, low-pass
FIR filter: PM method design.
improved up to −23 dB by the proposed GBA design (Fig. 5).
CAPIZZI AND SCIUTO: NOVEL 2-D FIR FILTER DESIGN METHODOLOGY BASED ON A GAUSSIAN-BASED APPROXIMATION
Fig. 5. Frequency response for a 2D, 21 × 21 order, square-shaped, low-pass
FIR filter: GBA 2-D design.
Fig. 6. Frequency response for a 2D, 21 × 21 order, circular-shaped, low-pass
FIR filter designed with the GBA method.
An example of design of circular 2D FIR filter with the pro-
posed method is illustrated in Fig. 6. Filter performances are the
same as in the square case.
IV. DISCUSSION
The comparisons has been made by considering different
filter lengths (11 × 11 for low order filter, 21 × 21 for medium
order filter, 55 × 55 for higth order filter) and different transition
bands (0.1, 0.04 and 0.01, respectively).
For a low filter order and a large transition bands the two
design methods are comparable with respect to the stop-band
attenuation while the PM method yields a slightly smaller rip-
ple. With medium transition bands the two design methods are
comparable while for narrow transition bands (lesser than 0.02)
PM fails to converge, whereas GBA satisfies the specifications
in an acceptable way.
For a medium filter order and transition bands lesser than 0.05
and greater than 0.03, the two design methods are comparable.
Finally for an high filter order the PM method fails to con-
verge when the transition bands are very narrow, whereas the
365
GBA method satisfies the specifications precisely. For medium
transition bands the two design methods are comparable while
the PM method yields slightly better performances for very large
transition bands. Regarding the comparison with 2D FIR-FDC
it is possible make the following considerations:
- In the field of stopband evaluations, 2D FIR-FDC outper-
forms the proposed method for low order filters, whereas
is comparable for medium and high order filters.
- In the field of the control over the critical frequencies the
proposed method outperforms 2D FIR-FDC in all the cir-
cumstances. The proposed method is comparable with 2D
FIR-FDC in terms of maximum passband ripple.
V. CONCLUSION
ln this work we have described the GBA 2D FIR filter design
methodology, an approach based on Gaussian approximation.
Filter shapes different from the square considered above can
be dealt with, by a simple and direct extension of the present
treatment.
Unlike other approaches, the GBA design procedure turn out
to be very simple to implement, especially since it employs
closed (rather than iterative) design fomulas, directly linking fil-
ter coefficients to design specifications. Furthermore, it exhibits
a very good control over the precision of the critical frequencies
of the synthesized filter. As a result, it succeeds in implement-
ing 2D, real coefficients FIR filters with better efficiency and
performance than other known methods.
At least two advantages of GBA design deserve to be high-
lighted as far as space comunications are concerned.
r Since the design procedure is fast and direct, it is easy for
an application to reconfigure a filter at run-time, in order
to adapt to changing (e.g. environmental) requirements.
r Experiments carried out show that GBA design generally
affords the desired performance figures with a lower order
filter than other methods.
While these properties are generally desirable, they are def-
initely crucial in instances, like space applications, where the
operation environment is particularly hard and computing time
and storage space are at a premium.
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