Quasi-peak detector

A quasi-peak detector is a type of electronic detector or rectifier. Quasi-peak detectors for specific purposes have usually been standardized with mathematically precisely defined dynamic characteristics of attack time, integration time, and decay time or fall-back time.

Quasi-peak detectors play an important role in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing of electronic equipment, where allowed levels of electromagnetic interference (EMI), also called radio frequency interference (RFI), are given with reference to measurement by a specified quasi-peak detector. This was originally done because the quasi-peak detector was believed to better indicate the subjective annoyance level experienced by a listener hearing impulsive interference to an AM radio station. Over time standards incorporating quasi-peak detectors as the measurement device were extended to frequencies up to 1 GHz, although there may not be any justification beyond previous practice for using the quasi-peak detector to measure interference to signals other than AM radio. The quasi-peak detector parameters to be used for EMC testing vary with frequency. Both CISPR and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) limit EMI at frequencies above 1 GHz with reference to an average-power detector, rather than quasi-peak detector.