CFexpress

CFexpress is a standard for removable media cards proposed by the CompactFlash Association. The standard will use PCIe 3.0 interface with 1 to 8 lanes where 1 GB/s data can be provided per lane. NVM Express is also supported to provide low overhead and latency. There will be multiple form factors that feature different PCIe lane counts.[1] One of the goals is to unify the ecosystem of removable storage by being compatible with standards already widely adopted, such as PCIe and NVMe. There already is a wide range of controllers, software and devices that uses these standards, accelerating adoption.

History

On 7 September 2016 the CFA announced CFexpress.[1] The specification would be based on the PCI Express interface and NVM Express protocol.

On 18 April 2017 the CompactFlash Association published the CFexpress 1.0 specification.[2] Version 1.0 will use the XQD form-factor (38.5 mm × 29.8 mm × 3.8 mm) with two PCIe 3.0 lanes for speeds up to 2 GB/s. NVMe 1.2 is used for low-latency access, low overhead and highly parallel access.

On June 13th, 2017, Delkin introduced the first CFexpress cards based on the CFexpress 1.0 specification.[3] In February 2018 they released benchmarks, sample units are available in Q2 2018 and production is scheduled for Q3 2018.

Comparison

Standard SD UFS Card CFast XQD CFexpress
Version 3.0 4.0 6.0 7.0[4] 1.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 ?
Launched 2010 Q2 2011 Q1 2017 Q1 ? Q2 2016 ? 2008 Q3 2012 Q3 2011 Q4 2014 Q1 2017 Q2 ?
Bus UHS-I UHS-II UHS-III PCIe 3.0 x1 UFS 2.0 UFS 3.0 SATA-300 SATA-600 PCIe 2.0 x1 PCIe 2.0 x2 PCIe 3.0 x2 PCIe 3.0 x8
Speed

(full-duplex)

 104 MB/s 312 MB/s 624 MB/s 985 MB/s 600 MB/s 1200 MB/s 300 MB/s 600 MB/s 500 MB/s 1000 MB/s 1970 MB/s 7880 MB/s

Compatible devices

Cards

Delkin

64GB Delkin CFexpress memory card

On June 13th, 2017, Delkin introduced the first CFexpress cards based on the CFexpress 1.0 specification.[3] The cards have a XQD form factor and use two PCIe 3.0 lanes. They come in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities, with up to 1 terabyte in the future.

More details on Delkin's CFexpress cards were revealed in February 2018.[5][6] The cards should be able to be read from and written to with respectively up to 1,6 GB/s and up to 1,0 GB/s benchmarked with CrystalDiskMark 5.2.1. Sample units will be available in Q2 2018 and production is scheduled for Q3 2018.

ProGrade Digital

In a statement to DPReview, ProGrade Digital confirmed that it will launch CFexpress cards in 2018 with the Type-B form-factor (the same as XQD).[7]

Readers

BLACKJET™ TX-1CXQ[8]

Parts

On October 2nd, 2017, Rego Electronics announced CFexpress host connectors and card cardkits, parts that manufacturers can use for their CFexpress devices and cards.[9][10][11]

Client devices

As of October 2017, there are no known CFexpress client devices released. However, in late October 2017 a Lexar employee stated to Nikon Rumors:

CFExpress is essentially the next revision of XQD, and there should be full backward compatibility with XQD, and that getting D4/D5/500/D850’s to work with CFE cards should be a simple software patch.[12]

On August 23rd 2018, Nikon announced their new mirrorless camera's, the Z6 and Z7. Both use XQD cards but will be upgraded in firmware to support CFexpress.

On August 28th 2018, Phase One announced XF IQ4 camera system (three bodies) with support of XQD cards and future support of CFexpress cards.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "CFA 5.1 Press Release" (PDF).
  2. ↑ "CFexpress 1.0 Press Release" (PDF).
  3. 1 2 "Industrial CFexpress 1.0 and Industrial CFX 1.0 Cards". Delkin Industrial. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  4. ↑ Shilov, Anton. "SD Association Announces SD 7.0 Spec & SD Express Interface: PCIe + NVMe, Up to 985 MB/s". AnandTech.
  5. ↑ "Industrial CFexpress 1.0 and Industrial CFX 1.0 Cards". Delkin Industrial. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  6. ↑ "Delkin Ships More Samples of Newest Form Factor CFexpress to OEMs". Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  7. ↑ "Confirmed: ProGrade Digital will NOT make XQD cards, is betting on CFexpress instead". DPReview. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  8. ↑ https://www.atechflash.com/blackjet-tx1cxq
  9. ↑ "REGO ELECTRONICS News - CFexpress Card Connectors & Card kits". www.rego.com.tw. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  10. ↑ "REGO ELECTRONICS Card Host Connectors". www.rego.com.tw. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  11. ↑ "REGO ELECTRONICS CFexpress Card Cardkits". www.rego.com.tw. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  12. ↑ "More info on Lexar, XQD and CFExpress memory cards compatibility, Hoodman rumored to start making XQD cards | Nikon Rumors". nikonrumors.com. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  13. ↑ "XF IQ4 150MP Camera System". phaseone.com. 2018-08-28.
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