a peak magnitude of a signal is estimated from a set of signal samples . from the set of signal samples , a largest signal sample and an adjacent next largest signal sample are selected that occurs , respectively , at a time , s 1 and at a time , s 2 . a first ratio of a first derived signal sample and a second derived signal sample is generated , the first derived signal sample being derived from the largest signal sample , and the second derived signal sample being derived from the next largest signal sample . a second ratio is determined from the first ratio , the second ratio representing a peak magnitude of a communication system response divided by a second magnitude of the communication system response , wherein the second magnitude is the communication system response at the time s 1 . the peak magnitude of the signal is generated from the second ratio and the first derived signal sample .