Patent ID: 6994569

Claim:
An electrical connector comprising: a linear contact array of electrically conductive contacts; and a lead frame in which the contacts are fixed; wherein (i) the contacts may be selectively designated, while fixed in the lead frame, as either ground or signal contacts such that, in a first designation, the contacts form at least one differential signal pair comprising a pair of signal contacts, and, in a second designation, the contacts form at least one single-ended signal conductor, (ii) the contact array includes at least one ground contact disposed adjacent to the at least one differential signal pair in the first designation and adjacent to the at least one single-ended signal conductor in the second designation, (iii) the ground contact is disposed in the same relative location within the contact array in both the first designation and the second designation, (iv) each signal contact has a respective terminal end, (v) the ground contact has a terminal end, and (vi) the terminal end of the ground contact extends beyond any terminal end of any of the signal contacts.