Linear filter
Linear filters process time-varying input signals to produce output signals, subject to the constraint of linearity. This results from systems composed solely of components (or digital algorithms) classified as having a linear response. Most filters implemented in analog electronics, in digital signal processing, or in mechanical systems are classified as causal, time invariant, and linear signal processing filters.
The general concept of linear filtering is also used in statistics, data analysis, and mechanical engineering among other fields and technologies. This includes non-causal filters and filters in more than one dimension such as those used in image processing; those filters are subject to different constraints leading to different design methods.
A linear time-invariant (LTI) filter can be uniquely specified by its impulse response h, and the output of any filter is mathematically expressed as the convolution of the input with that impulse response. The frequency response, given by the filter's transfer function , is an alternative characterization of the filter. Typical filter design goals are to realize a particular frequency response, that is, the magnitude of the transfer function ; the importance of the phase of the transfer function varies according to the application, inasmuch as the shape of a waveform can be distorted to a greater or lesser extent in the process of achieving a desired (amplitude) response in the frequency domain. The frequency response may be tailored to, for instance, eliminate unwanted frequency components from an input signal, or to limit an amplifier to signals within a particular band of frequencies.
...
Wikipedia