While mobile applications are becoming so extraordinarily adopted, it is still unclear if they deserve any specific testing approach for their verification and validation. This paper wants to investigate new research directions on mobile applications testing automation, by answering three research questions: (RQ1) are mobile applications (so) different from traditional ones, so to require different and specialized new testing techniques?, (RQ2) what are the new challenges and research directions on testing mobile applications?, and (RQ3) which is the role automation may play in testing mobile applications?. We answer those questions by analyzing the current state of the art in mobile applications development and testing, and by proposing our view on the topic.

This work aims to provide details on the latest technological developments regarding LiDAR (Light Imaging Detection And Ranging) systems, with particular reference to the techniques, architectures, and methodologies partially or entirely implemented by means of the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) environment. Currently, LiDAR technology is considered of great interest as it is widely employed in a variety of application fields, such as automotive, seismology, archaeology, metrology, and military. For this reason, the required performances are gradually increasing, which leads to complex and stringent solutions. The growth in LiDAR systems’ complexity suggests the use of high-end general-purpose computing units such as central processing units to perform very complex tasks and FPGAs to perform multiple tasks in real-time through the implementation of dedicated computational blocks. The latter, in recent architectures, are therefore used for the execution of specific tasks that require high computational speed and system flexibility. This paper reports some case studies recently applied in the LiDAR field, with the aim of illustrating the role of FPGA technology and its benefits.