Patent ID: 6926565

Claim:
A contact for use in a connector, said contact comprising: a contact beam having a mating surface proximate a first end of said contact beam, said contact beam being configured to carry high speed data signals; a tail portion configured to carry high speed data signals; and a leg portion joining and interconnecting said tail portion and a second end of said contact beam, said leg portion including a retention segment, through which a signal transmission path passes, as data signals are conveyed through said leg portion between said tail portion and said contact beam, said retention segment being configured to secure said leg portion within a connector, wherein said retention segment is incorporated continuously into said signal transmission path such that data signals conveyed at a data rate of approximately at least 10 Gbps through said mating surface of said contact beam exhibit attenuation of less than −3 dB for frequencies up to a third harmonic of a fundamental frequency of said data signals.