Process and processing circuit for the analog output signal of a sensor

A digital system for processing the analog output of a sensor, in particular of an accelerometric sensor for the detection of pinking for an internal combustion engine, wherein the analog output of the sensor is bi-polar and is characterized by an integration constant, said system comprising:

• means for periodically generating a measuring period signal representing a measuring period for the analog output of the sensor;
• sampling means for periodically sampling the analog output of the sensor during each measuring period to produce bi-polar analog output signals;
• analog-to-digital converter means responding to the bi-polar analog output samples for producing corresponding uni-polar digital values;
• accumulating means for summing the uni-polar digital values produced during each measuring period to produce a sum of the uni-polar digital values occurring during each measuring period;
• means for dividing the sum of the uni-polar digital values occurring during each measuring period by the integration constant characterizing the sensor to produce, for each measuring period, a modifier value;
• and
• means for adjusting ignition timing of the engine as a function of such modifier values.