Abstract: For the establishment of a crank-angle based signal pattern with high discrimination representing a relevant working characteristic of an internal combustion engine, the working characteristic is detected with high time discrimination and with the aid of a time-based and angled-based crank-angle signal of low angle discrimination and transformed to a crank-angle basis under interpolation, and whereby there is assigned to the top dead center (OT) of the respective cylinder, by a multiple, a freely selectable angle increment under interpolation with high angle discrimination.