The most used licensing in this arena is a royalty on per unit sales. However, an upfront perpetual license for a product family or a segment thereof is also in practice. The value of the targeted product using the embedded code leads to this variance. An industrial controller with embedded software will sell for an amount different by an order of magnitude when compared to a product such as an information appliance that includes embedded code or a scaled down operating system. For EDA products time-based licensing is attractive to both the seller and buyer.
Time based licenses are typically licenses that expire within one to three years.
Floating licenses where individual users check out from a license pool are in mainstream use. Perpetual licenses with companion maintenance agreements and floating license options are still popular. There has been experimentation with flex-access where you can swap various application licenses of like value. Application service providers in the chip EDA segment are now launching their businesses and they will require a type of use license. EDA companies have been known to agree to site licenses when the transaction offers a large installed base, and corresponding revenue.