  A detailed and accurate characterisation of silicon photomultiplier detectors
is required for a better understanding of the signal and noise in many
applications. The collected information is a valuable feedback to the
manufacturers in their attempt to improve the performances. In this paper, we
provide a detailed description of how to characterise these photo-detectors.
The correlated noise probabilities, the important time constants and the photon
detection efficiency are obtained with a statistical analysis of pulse-shape
and time distributions. The method is tested with different detectors. The
quench resistor, the breakdown voltage and the dark count rate are measured
from IV characteristics.
