OFDM/DMT/digital communications system including partial sequence symbol processing

1. A method for filtering a digital signal spanning a plurality of symbol periods, the method comprising:

filtering the digital signal at beginning and end portions of symbol periods to generate a filtered output;

bypassing filtering of the digital signal at a middle portion of symbol periods to generate a bypassed output; and

providing a filter output as a combination of the filtered output and the bypassed output.

2. The method of claim 1 further including storing the filter output for subsequent conversion to an analog signal.

3. The method of claim 1 further including filtering the beginning and the end portions symmetrically.

4. The method of claim 3 further including filtering the beginning and the end portions symmetrically as a function of adding a sample at the beginning portion of the signal to a corresponding symmetric sample at the end portion of the signal.

5. The method of claim 3 further including filtering the beginning and the end portions symmetrically as a function of multiplying a coefficient by a sample at the beginning portion of the signal and multiplying the coefficient by a corresponding symmetric sample at the end portion of the signal.

6. An apparatus for filtering a digital signal spanning a plurality of symbol period, the apparatus comprising:

a filtering module to filter the digital signal at beginning and end portions of a symbol period to generate a filtered output;

a bypass module to bypass the digital signal at a middle portion of the symbol period to generate a bypassed output; and

an output module to provide a filter output as a combination of the filtered output and the bypassed output.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further including a buffer configured to store the filter output for subsequent conversion to an analog signal.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the filter is a FIR filter.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the filter is symmetric.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the filter includes symmetric taps.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 further including an adder arranged to add a sample at the beginning portion of the signal to a corresponding symmetric sample at the end portion of the signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 6 further including a multiplier arranged to multiply a coefficient by a sample at the beginning portion of the signal and multiply the coefficient by a corresponding symmetric sample at the end portion of the signal.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium including sequences of instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a method for filtering a digital signal spanning a plurality of symbol periods, the sequence of instructions executed by the processor causing the processor to:

filter the digital signal at beginning and end portions of a symbol period to generate a filtered output;

bypass the digital signal at a middle portion of the symbol period to generate a bypassed output; and

provide a filter output as a function of selecting between the filtered output and the bypassed output.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the sequence of instructions further include instructions to cause the processor to store the filter output for subsequent conversion to an analog signal.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 wherein the sequence of instructions further include instructions to cause the processor to filter the beginning and the end portions symmetrically.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 wherein the sequence of instructions further include instructions to cause the processor to filter the beginning and the end portions symmetrically as a function of adding a sample at the beginning portion of the signal to a corresponding symmetric sample at the end portion of the signal.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the sequence of instructions further include instructions to cause the processor to filter the beginning and the end portions symmetrically comprises: as a function of multiplying a coefficient by a sample at the beginning portion of the signal; and multiplying the coefficient by a corresponding symmetric sample at the end portion of the signal.