1. Process for detecting the operating state of a pump in a pump system, comprising the steps of: detecting at least one of a pressure and a flow profile P(t) in the pump system, computing at least one characteristic value K kal of the at least one of the pressure and flow profile P(t), determining the operating state of the pump by comparing the at least one computed characteristic value K kal with at least one of a predefined characteristic value K vor and a characteristic value range bordered by the characteristic value K vor , and outputting the operating state of the pump determined by the comparison, wherein the at least one computed characteristic value K kal characterizes a pulsation of at least one of the pressure and flow profile P(t) in a computation time interval Δt B , a pulsation quotient being computed as the at least one computed characteristic value K kal .