Patent ID: 8597036

Claim:
A receptacle connector comprising: a housing comprising a mating interface for mating with a mating connector; ground contacts held by the housing, the ground contacts comprising ground mating segments arranged along the mating interface of the housing for mating with ground terminals of the mating connector, the ground mating segments of the ground contacts being arranged within a ground row, the ground mating segments of the ground contacts comprising ground mating surfaces configured to engage the ground terminals, the ground mating surfaces of the ground mating segments extending within at least one ground plane; and signal contacts held by the housing, the signal contacts comprising signal mating segments arranged along the mating interface of the housing for mating with signal terminals of the mating connector, the signal mating segments of a first group of the signal contacts being arranged within a first signal row, the signal mating segments of a second group of the signal contacts being arranged within a second signal row, the ground row extending between the first and second signal rows, the signal mating segments of the signal contacts comprising signal mating surfaces configured to engage the signal terminals, wherein the signal mating surfaces of the first and second groups of the signal contacts extend within first and second signal planes, respectively, that extend parallel to and are spaced apart from the at least one ground plane, wherein no signal mating segments extend within the at least one ground plane.