Patent ID: 7503768

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; a connector body formed of metal and having a metal front surface wherein the inner and outer conductive elements are electrically presented proximate the front surface, in a generally co-planar arrangement for presenting the signal array to a signal-bearing component; the inner conductive elements terminating in inner contact elements that form part of the respective inner conductive elements, the inner contact elements presented at a face surface that is a metal surface that extends above the metal front surface of the connector body, the outer conductive elements of the array including the metal connector body; a compressible interface element having a plurality of conductive elements embedded in a compressible, electrically insulative medium; the interface element positionable against the face surface, and operable, when compressed between the signal array and a signal bearing component, to pass signals between the signal array and the signal-bearing component while maintaining a geometric arrangement of the inner and outer conductive elements of the conductors of the array and conductive elements of the signal-bearing component.