What is B&R Automation CF Express
In‑Depth Understanding of B&R Automation CFexpress Storage
CFexpress is a next‑generation removable industrial storage standard designed by the CompactFlash Association. It combines PCI Express (PCIe) lanes with the NVMe protocol to deliver extremely high performance, low latency, and exceptional reliability. It is rapidly replacing older formats such as CFast and CompactFlash, especially in industry, automation, AI/vision systems, and professional imaging.
CFexpress is currently one of the fastest and most rugged removable storage technologies available.
Based on APC3200 documentation:
- Designed for advanced industrial workloads (AI, analytics, cybersecurity)
- Requires real‑time performance + high throughput
- Needs long‑term availability + ruggedness
CFexpress 2.0/4.0 specs define:
- Operating temp: ‑10°C to 70°C (type-specific)
- Unified thermal spec across cards
Latency Class Characteristics
- Read latency: ~10–30 µs typical (controller + NAND)
- Write latency: ~30–80 µs depending on SLC‑cache hit/miss
(Latency values based on NVMe Gen3/Gen4 flash characteristics in cited industrial cards)
What endurance class means for engineers
- 600 TBW at 1 TB = write 328 GB every day for 5 years
- Great for logs, buffering, high‑frequency writes
- TLC with SLC caching provides high performance without sacrificing lifespan
CFexpress is not just “faster storage”—it is a fundamental architectural upgrade for industrial automation systems. By leveraging PCIe/NVMe, B&R’s APC3200 gains:
- Low latency: tens of microseconds rather than hundreds
- High throughput: ~1.8 GB/s reads, ~1.5 GB/s writes
- High endurance: up to 600 TBW at 1 TB
- Industrial resilience: –40°C to +85°C, 1500G shock
- Determinism: thermal throttling + NVMe queues ensure consistent behavior
This positions CFexpress as a storage technology that supports the future of real‑time control, AI at the edge, and complex automation workloads
WEBLINK: Future-proof PC performance
