Devices and methods for determining relative motion

Abstract

Devices and methods are disclosed for determining relative motion. In one implementation, an interferometer is provided. The interferometer may include a body, a light source configured to project a coherent light to an opposing surface, a plurality of pairs of light detectors configured to convert reflections of the coherent light into photocurrents, and a processor. The processor may be configured to detect changes in the photocurrents, wherein a first change in the photocurrents, which occurs in response to a relative motion between the body and the opposing surface, represents a motion signal, and a second change in the photocurrents represents a noise signal. The processor may also determine the relative motion between the body and the opposing surface based on the first change in the photocurrents when a ratio between a power of the motion signal and a power of the noise signal is below about 10.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.