A configurable generic filter hardware block and corresponding methods are provided. A configurable generic filter hardware block includes a plurality of multipliers; a plurality of adders; and one or more multiplexers. The, configurable generic filter hardware block is configured using a header data structure, and the header data structure includes a pointer to a memory location storing a plurality of input samples, a pointer to a memory location storing a plurality of output samples and a coefficient selection control value. The configurable generic filter hardware block is optionally invoked by a convolution instruction in one or more of a vector processor and a state machine. An exemplary Generic Filter Iteration loads input samples; selects coefficients; convolves the input samples and the selected coefficients and stores output samples. The header data structures are optionally stored sequentially in memory and processed in a single loop.