Patent ID: 8366485

Claim:
An electrical connector comprising: a dielectric housing; a plurality of electrical signal contacts carried by the dielectric housing and arranged along a first plane, wherein the signal contacts define signal pairs such that a respective gap is disposed between adjacent signal pairs, and the electrical signal contacts further define respective mating ends and mounting ends; an electrically conductive ground plate carried by the dielectric housing, the ground plate including a ground plate body oriented in a second plane that is substantially parallel to the first plane and offset from the first plane, the ground plate body defining first and second opposed surfaces, the ground plate including at least one rib that defines first and second opposed surfaces, wherein the first surface of the rib projects from the first surface of the ground plate body in a direction toward the gap, and the second surface is recessed into the second surface of the ground plate body, and the ground plate includes respective mating ends and mounting ends extending from the ground plate body.