Patent ID: 7390218

Claim:
An electrical connector, comprising: a plurality of differential signal contact pairs arranged along a first centerline, a second centerline, and a third centerline, the first centerline arranged adjacent and parallel to the second centerline and the third centerline arranged adjacent and parallel to the second centerline, wherein (i) each of the plurality of differential signal pairs comprises two electrical contacts; (ii) the two electrical contacts each define a broadside and an edge and are arranged broadside-to-broadside along at least a majority of the length of the signal pair; (iii) each of the differential signal pairs arranged along the second centerline are offset from differential signal pairs arranged along the first centerline and the differential signal pairs arranged along the third centerline; (iv) the electrical connector is devoid of shields between the first centerline, the second centerline, and the third centerline; (v) a ground contact is positioned at one end of the first centerline and on an opposite end of the second centerline; and (vi) adjacent rows of the signal pairs are staggered in a row direction that is perpendicular to a line direction along which the centerlines extend such that no signal pair of one row aligns with any signal pair of an adjacent row in the line direction.