Designing Optimum FIR Filters Using the Parks-McClellan Algorithm

The Parks-McClellan algorithm offers an optimum FIR filter design technique that attempts to design the best filter possible for a given number of coefficients. Such a design reduces the adverse effects at the cutoff frequencies. It also offers more control over the approximation errors in different frequency bands — control that is not possible with the window method.

Using the Parks-McClellan algorithm to design FIR filters is computationally expensive. This method, however, produces optimum FIR filters by applying time-consuming iterative techniques.