Microprocessor and method of processing data including peak value candidate selecting part and peak value calculating part

A data storing part outputs n-bit data according to a reading address generated by an address generator. A peak value candidate selecting part selects a maximum value of a plurality of elements forming the n-bit data as a peak value candidate when data of one data unit is expressed as one element and outputs the peak value candidate together with a positional information indicating an element position of the peak value candidate. When the peak value candidate is larger than a peak value held in a peak value holding part, a peak value calculating part calculates an address of the peak value candidate using the positional information of the peak value candidate and a reading address, outputs the address and the peak value candidate to the peak value holding part, and updates content held in the peak value holding part.