A new framework for designing robust adaptive filters is introduced. It is based on the optimization of a certain cost function subject to a time-dependent constraint on the norm of the filter update. Particularly, we present a robust variable step-size NLMS algorithm which optimizes the square of the a posteriori error. We also show the link between the proposed algorithm and another one derived using a robust statistics approach. In addition, a theoretical model for predicting the transient

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... d steady-state behavior and a proof of almost sure filter convergence are provided. The algorithm is then tested in different environments for system identification and acoustic echo cancelation applications. Index Terms-Acoustic echo cancelation, adaptive filtering, impulsive noise, normalized least-mean-square (NLMS) algorithm, robust filtering.