Patent ID: 7404718

Claim:
A connector assembly comprising: a signal array of a plurality of conductors, each conductor including at least one inner conductive element and an outer conductive element; ferrule elements coupled with ends of respective conductors and each including an inner contact and an outer body electrically coupled with the inner and outer conductive elements of the conductors, respectively; a conductive body having a front surface and a contact face surface that is raised above the front surface, ends of the conductors terminating in the body wherein the outer conductive elements are electrically coupled to the body and the inner contacts are presented at the body contact face surface, in a generally co-planar arrangement above the body front surface for presenting the signal array to a signal-bearing component; a compressible interface element having a plurality of conductive elements embedded in a compressible, electrically insulative medium; the interface element positionable against the body front surface to engage the contact face surface, and operable, when compressed between the contact face surface and a signal bearing component, to pass signals between the signal array and the signal-bearing component while maintaining the geometric arrangement of the inner and outer conductive elements of the conductors of the array and conductive elements of the signal-bearing component.