What stacks will be available for the nRF52 with ANT capability?
In collaboration with Nordic Semiconductor, ANT Wireless has developed the S212 ANT SoftDevice and the S332 Concurrent ANT/Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) SoftDevice. ANT Wireless licenses the ANT stacks to customers for use with the nRF52 Series parts.
What type of licensing arrangements are needed to use the ANT stacks?
There are two types of agreements: an evaluation agreement and a commercial use agreement. Both are click-through for easy access.
What can I do with a stack that I obtain for evaluation?
With an ANT stack obtained through an evaluation agreement, you can use it for internal development, testing, and evaluation only. These stacks are full function, to permit development of a total solution. Stacks obtained for evaluation cannot, however, be used for any commercial or revenue-generating purpose. A license key and a commercial use agreement are required for use of the S212 and/or S332 in revenue-generating applications. Selling products with an evaluation stack will obligate you to royalties far in excess (10x) of what the fees will be for the commercial use agreement.
Is there a fee associated with an evaluation agreement?
No, the evaluation license is free of charge.
Can I share a prototype of my product with a potential customer for business development using a stack that I obtained under an evaluation agreement?
Yes, if the prototypes or samples are provided for demo, evaluation, and testing only.
What is the commercial use agreement for?
A commercial use agreement is required to use the ANT stacks with an nRF52 in a product for revenue-generating purposes. After approval of the agreement and an account is set up, ANT Wireless will issue a license key to you for use with the ANT stacks. A royalty fee per instance of the ANT stack within a product that is sold, rented, or leased will be applicable.
What are the royalty fees for commercial use of the ANT stacks?
The royalty fee with a commercial agreement will be $0.08 USD per instance of the S212 or S332 ANT stack within an item that is sold, rented, or leased.
What if my product contains multiple nRF52 SoC devices and each use an ANT stack?
The royalty fees apply to each instance of an ANT stack on an nRF52. If you have a product bundle that includes multiple items, each of which contain an nRF52 SoC and an ANT Stack, the royalty fee applies to each of the items. If a single product item contains multiple nRF52 SoC devices and an ANT stack is used on each of them, the royalty fees apply to each of the ANT stacks used for that product.
When will production versions of the ANT stacks be available?
In this collaborative effort to make ANT capability available for the nRF52 Series SoCs, both Nordic and ANT Wireless want to ensure the integrity and reliability of the stacks for the nRF52. We will base the production version of our concurrent ANT/BLE stack on Nordic’s production S132 BLE SoftDevice, and so the production releases of our stacks will typically follow Nordic’s release of the S132.
Can I create a development kit or reference design that includes the nRF52 with an SDK that includes the ANT SoftDevices?
Please contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in using the ANT SoftDevices with a software development kit, evaluation kit, development kit, reference design, or other development tool set. The standard evaluation and commercial use agreements do not cover these type of scenarios.
Will I need to accept a new commercial agreement for every product that I build that includes the nRF52 and the S212 or S332 stack?
A commercial use agreement covers all products that a company ships for commercial or revenue generating purposes that include the nRF52 and the S212 or S332.
Will I need to accept a new commercial use agreement every time I update the ANT stack version on my product?
Typically, this will not be the case, as the ANT stacks will normally be available under a commercial use agreement that covers previously released versions. If the ANT stack version that you want to upgrade to has different agreement terms than the one that you are using, you will need to enter a new commercial use agreement for that new ANT stack.
Will the agreements apply to affiliates and subsidiaries?
As click-through agreements, they will apply only to the entity that accepts the agreement.
Who are the licensing agreements with?
ANT Wireless is a division of Garmin Canada Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Garmin. The agreements will be with the arm of our parent company that holds our intellectual property, Garmin Switzerland, GmbH. ANT Wireless manages the licenses, and is the customer point of contact for information about licensing and the ANT stacks.
Why is the download of an ANT Stack subject to US export control regulations if ANT Wireless is division of a Canadian company?
As our parent company, Garmin, is a US company, we also follow US export control regulations.
I am with a company and use a contract manufacturer to build my product that contains the nRF52 Series SoC. Which party should get the license key and pay the royalties under a commercial use agreement?
As the party that controls the software that is combined with the ANT stack, the company that you are with should enter into the commercial use agreement.
If I am with a company and buy a finished good from an ODM that contains the nRF52 Series SoC, which party should get the license key and pay royalties under a commercial use agreement?
As the party that controls the software that is combined with the ANT stack, the ODM should enter into the commercial use agreement.
I am with a design house and we want to use nRF52 Series SoCs in our designs with ANT stacks. Do I need to get a license key and pay royalties under a commercial use agreement?
Design houses typically act as subcontracted design sites or as ODMs with other companies. If your design house is acting as a subcontracted design site, the contracting company would require the commercial use agreement. If the design house is acting as an ODM, then you as the design house would require a commercial use agreement, and pay the royalties on the products that you deliver to your customer. Contact us at [email protected] for clarification of your specific situation.
FAQ: ANT Stack Licensing for nRF52 Series
