Session T1F

Demo Program for Frequency Sampling FIR Filter

Design Method
Gordana Jovanovic Dolecek
Institute INAOE, gordana.dolecek@gmail.com

Abstract - Demo programs that illustrate concepts with
visual aids have become one of the more important tools
in the field of engineering education. They help students
learn faster, remember longer, and identify the
fundamental concepts better. Demo programs are
especially beneficial in terms of saving time and effort for
both teaching and learning. To this end a demo program
for teaching Frequency Sampling Finite Impulse
Response design method is developed. In particular, a
frequency sampling design of a differentiator using comb
and resonator filters is demonstrated. The program is
implemented in MATLAB using tool makeshow, which
has several favorable characteristics. It is demonstrated,
step by step, how the initial comb characteristic is being
changed by introducing the corresponding second order
resonators. All the steps are demonstrated in z-plane and
in the frequency domain. Finally, all steps are presented
together in the same slide and the obtained differentiator
characteristic is compared with the desired
characteristic. The program can be used as a
complement to theoretical classes on the fundamentals of
digital signal processing at the graduate level. The
student validation of the program is also included.
Index Terms – Comb filter, Demo program, Frequency
sampling, MATLAB, Resonator.
learning, validation, and research in engineering education
[5]-[8].
The experience in the National Institute INAOE shows that
the development and usage of software educational tools
represents an effective teaching approach and can increase
students’ attention, motivation, and efficiency in learning.
To be effective, software tools must have desirable
characteristics including repeatability, capacity to motivate
students, interactivity, versatility, easy to use etc. An
attractive MATLAB demo program to visualize and to better
understand the procedure for the Design of Frequency
Sampling of Finite Impulse Response Filter, is developed.
MATLAB platform is chosen because it is the tool of choice
for most educational and research purposes and it provides
powerful computation and advanced visualization tools.
FREQUENCY SAMPLING METHOD
The goal of the proposed procedure is to design an FIR
(Finite Impulse Response) filter, whose magnitude response
H (e jω ) exactly matches the desired arbitrary shaped
magnitude response H D (e jω ) at N equally spaced points
over the range 0 ≤ ω < 2π , [9]
H (e jω k ) = H D (e jω k ) , k = 0,..., N − 1 , (1)

MOTIVATION where
2πk
Many of the engineering lecture courses are taught using a ωk = . (2)
traditional method i.e., only with the support of a blackboard N
or transparencies. As a result, “most of the learning in The system function of the filter H(z) can be implemented as
traditional teaching is individual, since the students in the a comb filter
classrooms are taking notes or listening instead of 1 − z−N
participating “ [1]. It is well known that passive learners lose H COMB ( z ) = , (3)
attention quickly in lectures and tutorials, and after 20
N
minutes in lecture student attention level reduces to one third
cascaded with N complex first–order resonators those are
its initial level [2]. The availability of personal computers
connected in parallel,
(PCs), their increasing calculation power, and their enhanced
graphical possibilities enable teachers to take the advantage
N −1
H D ( e jω k )
H RES ( z ) = ∑
of the pedagogical possibilities afforded by new
jω k −1
, (4)
technologies [3] and to transform the passive learners into
k =0 1 − e z
active participants in the learning process.
Computer-aided learning has become an important
yielding
educational research activity in various engineering
disciplines [4]. Many computer packages developed to assist H ( z ) = H COMB ( z ) H RES ( z ) . (5)
learning, are very helpful in different aspects of teaching,

978-1-4244-6262-9/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE October 27 - 30, 2010, Washington, DC

40th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
T1F-1
 Session T1F
jω k
The complex gain H D (e ) is computed from the
desired magnitude response and the assigned phase
response.
To avoid the complex coefficients the equation (4) can be
rewritten as
H D (e j 0 ) H D (e jπ ) N / 2 −1
H RES ( z ) = + + ∑ H R , k ( z ) , (6)
1 − z −1 1 + z −1 k =1

where H R , k ( z ) is the second-order resonator with real

coefficients,
H R,k ( z) =
{ } { }
2 Re H D (e jω k ) − 2 Re H D (e jω k )e jω k z −1 , (7)
1 − 2 cos(ωk ) z −1 + z − 2
where Re{.} means the real part of the complex value in {.}.
Fig. 1. The first slide.
Considering the linear phase, the second order resonator
(7) can be rewritten as Using a series of sequential steps it is demonstrated how the
initial comb characteristic is being changed by introducing
1 − z −1 the corresponding second order resonators, with the final
H R , k ( z ) = Bk , (8)
1 − 2 cos(ωk ) z −1 + z − 2 goal of obtaining the magnitude characteristic of the
differentiator. All steps are demonstrated in both the z-plane
where for N even ,
and in the frequency domain.
0 ≤ k ≤ ( N / 2) − 1 , (9)
and DESCRIPTION OF THE DEMO PROGRAM
Bk = 2 H D (e jω k ) cos(π ( N − 1)k / N ) . (10) The desired magnitude response is given by
H D (e jω ) = ω ,0 ≤ ω ≤ π . (12)
Similarly for an odd value of N, we have,
The N-point unit sample response is specified to possess
odd symmetry, so that the resonator gain (10) is given by,
0 ≤ k ≤ ( N − 1) / 2 − 1 . (11) [9]
Note that for N odd the second term in (6) is equal to zero . 2kπ cos(π ( N − 1)k / N )
More details of the method can be found in [9]. Bk = . (13)
N +1
FEATURES OF DEMO PROGRAM In this demo illustration we set N= 9. Figure 2 shows the
desired magnitude and phase responses and Figure 3 shows
The package was implemented in MATLAB using the tool the corresponding sampled values.
makeshow. MATLAB is chosen because it is the tool of
choice for most educational and research purposes, [10].
There are two windows in each slide, (Fig.1). The upper
window is used for a specific explanation or for graphics.
The bottom window is used for a general explanation, or for
additional explanation of the upper graphics. The order of
the slide and the command buttons are on the right side of
each slide.
The student using the demo can change the slides
automatically using the option AutoPlay. In this case the
student may use the button Stop to stop the presentation
and later hit Continue to continue it. The student can also
choose the option to change slides manually with the mouse,
by clicking Next to go forward or Prev, to go backward.
The buttons Reset and Close are used to reset the demos
and exit the program, respectively, (See Fig.1).
In particular, the demo shows the frequency sampling
design of a differentiator using comb and resonator filters. Fig.2. Desired responses.
978-1-4244-6262-9/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE October 27 - 30, 2010, Washington, DC
40th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
T1F-2

Fig.3. Sampled desired responses.
Figure 4 shows the pole-zero pattern of the comb filter
along with its magnitude response. The filter design consists
of canceling zeros of the comb filter by the corresponding
poles of resonators in order to achieve the desired magnitude
at the frequency point of interest.
Fig.4. Comb filter.
978-1-4244-6262-9/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE
40th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
T1F-3
Session T1F
As an example, Figure 5 shows the pole–zero pattern for
the comb and the resonator for k=3 and k=6. By cascading
the comb and the resonator filters, the poles of resonator,
denoted by crosses in the figure, cancel the corresponding
zeros of the comb, denoted by circles in the figure, thereby
resulting in the magnitude response shown in Figure 6.
The resulting magnitude response of the cascade of the
comb filter with the parallel connection of resonators for
k=1, 2 and 3 and k=8, 7, and 6, is given in Figure 7. Note
that the zeros of the comb filter at the positions, k=4 and k=5
are not yet cancelled by the resonator poles. This will be
achieved in the last step.
All steps are shown in Figure 8 for k=1, 2, 3 and 4 and
k=8, 7, 6 and 5. The bottom plot shows the resulting
magnitude response which is obtained by summing the
magnitude responses of the cascade comb and parallel
resonators, for k=1, 2, 3 and 4.
For the sake of comparison, Figure 9 shows the desired
magnitude response and the obtained response. Note that the
obtained response has a small difference relative to the
desired response. To obtain the response of the filter which
is more similar to the desired response, one has to take more
sampling points.
Fig.5. Comb and resonator.
Fig.6. Magnitude response comb+resonator, k=3 and 6.
October 27 - 30, 2010, Washington, DC
 Session T1F
EVALUATION
It is crucially important to take into account the feedback
from students regarding the usefulness of a software tool in
the teaching-learning process. We devised evaluation forms
to gather data that address (a) the effectiveness of the
software for teaching the Frequency Sampling Method
(Evaluation form 1), and (b) specific features of the
software, (Evaluation form 2).

Evaluation form 1:
1. Justification for the computer use in teaching
Frequency Sampling Method. (1=unjustified;
4=absolutely justified).
2. Contribution to study of the filter design by demo
program use. (1=irrelevant; 4= very effective).
3. Clarity of explanations and features of demo.
Fig.7. Resulting magnitude response for k=1, 2, 3, and k=8, 7, 6. (1=confusing; 4=absolutely clear).
4. Did this demo help you to understand better the
Frequency Sampling Method? (1=NO;
4=Absolutely YES).
5. Did this demo help you to better understand the
cancellation of comb zeros by the resonator poles?
(1=NO; 4=Absolutely YES).

Evaluation form 2:

1. Special knowledge or programming skills required.

(1=excessive; 4=null).
2. Ease of operation. (1=complex; 4= very easy).
3. Flexibility & Repeatability (Possibility to come
back to previous slide/slides and repeat it/them
many times). (1=unnecessary; 4=very useful).
4. General quality of presentation (figures, resolution,
visibility, etc). (1=pure; 4=excellent).

Fig.8. All steps of the design.

The demo program has been consistently used as a
complementary tool in teaching the basic course on Digital
Signal Processing at the graduate level for the past five
academic years at the INAOE Institute. Figure 10 presents
the result of the evaluation of (a) and (b) questionnaires in
terms of the average marks for all questions. In total 52
students have participated in the evaluations.
The result of the demo evaluation shows that students
liked this way of teaching of the Frequency Sampling
Method. More specifically, they found this demo very useful
for understanding the Frequency Sampling Method and the
comb zeros cancellations by the resonator poles.
Additionally they highly justified the use of the computer
demo as a complementary tool for teaching the Frequency
Sampling Method. They especially highly rated the features
of the program: no programming skills required to run the
program, ease of operation, and flexibility & repeatability.
As a future work, it is planned to improve the general
Fig.9. Comparison of the desired and obtained magnitude responses.
quality of presentations and to prepare demo programs for
different filter design methods.

978-1-4244-6262-9/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE October 27 - 30, 2010, Washington, DC

40th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
T1F-4
 Session T1F
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b. Evaluation form 2.

Fig. 10. Evaluation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is supported by CONACYT Mexico.

978-1-4244-6262-9/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE October 27 - 30, 2010, Washington, DC

40th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
T1F-5