The large growth of flash ADC techniques for processing signals, especially in applications of streaming data, raises issues such as data flow through an acquisition system, long-term storage, and greater complexity in data analysis. In addition, exp
eriments that push the limits of sensitivity need to distinguish legitimate signals from noise. The use of correlation coefficients is examined to address these issues. They are found to be quite successful well into the noise region. The methods can also be extended to Field Programmable Gate Array modules for compressing the data flow and greatly enhancing the event rate capabilities.
