Abstract: Apparatus for splitting, imaging, and measuring wavefronts with a reference wavefront and an object wavefront. A wavefront-combining element receives and combines into a combined wavefront an object wavefront from an object and a reference wavefront. A wavefront-splitting element splits the combined wavefront into a plurality of sub-wavefronts in such a way that each of the sub-wavefronts is substantially contiguous with at least one other sub-wavefront. The wavefront-splitting element may shift the relative phase between the reference wavefront and the object wavefront of the sub-wavefronts to yield a respective plurality of phase-shifted sub-wavefronts. The wavefront-splitting element may then interfering the reference and object wavefronts of the phase-shifted sub-wavefronts to yield a respective plurality of phase-shifted interferograms. An imaging element receives and images the phase-shifted interferograms.

Abstract: In order to write data flowing in continuously into an image memory consisting of a single port RAM without lack and to read data out of the image memory continuously without lack in parallel, a memory access processor of the invention comprises;a write buffer for storing temporarily data flowing in continuously and outputting write requests while data are stored therein,a read buffer for storing temporarily data output from the image memory to be read out therefrom continuously, andan arbiter section for arbitrating concurrence between write requests and read requests for the image memory, writing data stored in the write buffer at a speed higher than a speed of data writing into the write buffer when write actions are performed according to the write requests, and reading data out of the image memory to be stored in the read buffer at a speed higher than a speed of data readout from the read buffer when read actions are performed according to the read requests.