The problem of the minimax design of FIR digital filters with prescribed phase characteristics and unit magnitude is a nonlinear optimization problem. In this paper it is approximated by a linear programming problem, and it is shown that the solution of this linear program is optimal to first order. That is, if δ
0and ε
0are optimal deviations of magnitude and phase characteristics, then the actual deviations obtained from the linear program solution satisfy

and

. Numerical examples are given, including design results for full-band M-term chirp filters which (like linear phase filters) can be implemented with (M + 1)/2 multiplications per point.