Skip to main content
JGiss.1
Associate II
October 9, 2025
Solved

NUCLEO‑N657X0‑Q: 0-Ohm Bridges in XSPI OCTOSPI Traces

  • October 9, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 264 views

I’m designing a custom board based on STM32N6 and using the same boot flash as the NUCLEO‑N657X0‑Q (MB1940). In the reference design, all OCTOSPI signals to the flash have 0‑Ω bridges in series, and the traces are length‑matched including those footprints.
What’s the main reason for these 0‑Ω parts? Are they only for flexibility during bring‑up (e.g., swapping in damping resistors), or do they serve another purpose? Is it safe to omit them or do they serve a specific reason?

 

Snippet from the MB1940 Schematic:

JGiss1_0-1760018570937.png

Thanks in advance and best regards,

Julius

 

Best answer by Sco

If you don't expect the impedence match, then it's ok to remove these 0R resistors.

If you keep these 0R resistors, note that, to place them near the MCU side.

3 replies

Andrew Neil
Super User
October 9, 2025

@JGiss.1 wrote:

What’s the main reason for these 0‑Ω parts?


So that people who want to disconnect the memory (eg, to use the pins as GPIO) can easily do it.

Remember that Nucleos are intended as general purpose evaluation tools.

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.
JGiss.1
JGiss.1Author
Associate II
October 9, 2025

@Andrew Neil wrote:


So that people who want to disconnect the memory (eg, to use the pins as GPIO) can easily do it.


Thanks for your answer!

This would make a lot of sense to me if the pins were routed out on a connector, which they aren't. That's why I thought this would be an unlikely reason for the bridges. RMII/USB/... Pins all don't have any solderbrdiges in their traces to make them usable as GPIO or any other function. 

AlexWEI
ST Employee
October 11, 2025

hi

the res on signals is reserved for impendence matching and signals test point.

Sco
ScoBest answer
ST Employee
October 11, 2025

If you don't expect the impedence match, then it's ok to remove these 0R resistors.

If you keep these 0R resistors, note that, to place them near the MCU side.