Method and apparatus for detecting the peak of an analog signal

摘要

A method and apparatus for processing a signal generated by a borehole scanning system of the type in which periodic electrical firing pulses initiate a plurality of corresponding acoustic energy pulses which are transmitted from the central portion of the borehole toward the borehole wall in a plurality of radial directions and at a plurality of different depths, thereby generating reflected acoustic pulses which are detected and converted to electrical pulses. The electrical pulse is periodically sampled with each sample level being converted to a digital number. Each new digital sample number is compared to the maximum of the preceding digital sample numbers and stored if the new digital sample number exceeds that maximum. A counter initiates counting in response to the firing pulse preceding the sample electrical pulse. Upon detection of the peak of the electrical pulse, the counter count is stored, thus yielding both the peak value of the electrical pulse and the elapsed time between the preceding firing pulse and peak of the electrical pulse.