Patent ID: 8840431

Claim:
An electrical connector system comprising: a backplane connector comprising a housing, signal contacts held by the housing and shield plates held by the housing; the housing includes a front and a rear, the housing includes signal channels extending along mating axes thereof between the front and the rear, the signal channels receive corresponding signal contacts, the housing includes slots that receive the shield plates; the signal contacts extend along the mating axes, the signal contacts are arranged in pairs carrying differential signals, pairs of signal contacts being arranged in columns along column axes perpendicular to the mating axes; the shield plates are electrically conductive, the shield plates extend generally parallel to the mating axes between corresponding pairs of signal contacts to entirely peripherally surround the pairs of signal contacts to provide electrical shielding for the pairs of signal contacts, the shield plates having separating walls aligned between pairs of the signal contacts and transition walls extending between separating walls, the separating walls being parallel to the column axes, the transition walls being angled non-orthogonal to the separating walls.