Peak detector and imaging system

Abstract From the Canadian patent

A circuit for detecting the positions and intensities of peaks in a digital input signal (which may be a digitized version of a signal from a CCD forming part of a three dimensional imaging device) employs a second derivative of the input signal for validating the presence of each input peak. Each validation signal enables an interpolation circuit that determines the position of a peak by finding the location of a zero crossing point of a first derivative of the input signal. Each validation signal also enables a maximum detector for measuring the intensity of each peak. The arrangement does not require resetting after each detection of a peak and is less sensitive than prior devices to …