Very high speed, high density electrical interconnection system with broadside subassemblies

An electrical connector, comprising:

• a plurality of pairs of signal conductors disposed in a plurality of parallel columns, each pair of the plurality of pairs of signal conductors comprising:
• a pair of mating contact portions;
• a pair of contact tails;
• and
• a pair of intermediate portions coupling the pair of mating contact portions to the pair of contact tails, respectively;
• and
• a plurality of reference conductors arranged to form at least a partial enclosure of each of the plurality of pairs of signal conductors, each of the at least partial enclosures having a smaller cross-sectional area at the pair of intermediate portions than at the pair of mating contact portions,
• wherein each pair of the plurality of pairs of signal conductors comprises a transition region at which the pair of signal conductors transition from the pair of intermediate portions to the pair of mating contact portions, and the at least partial enclosure comprises a transition region at the transition region of the pair of signal conductors, and
• wherein the transition region of the at least partial enclosure comprises lossy material.

An electrical connector, comprising:

• a plurality of pairs of signal conductors, each pair of signal conductors comprising:
• a pair of mating contact portions;
• a pair of contact tails;
• and
• a pair of intermediate portions coupling the pair of mating contact portions to the pair of contact tails, respectively, wherein the pair of intermediate portions comprise first portions that are proximate the pair of mating contact portions and second portions that are proximate the pair of contact tails, the first portions extending in a first direction and the second portions extending in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction;
• and
• a plurality of electromagnetic shielding members disposed between adjacent pairs of the plurality of pairs of signal conductors and extending from the pair of contact tails to the pair of mating contact portions, wherein each of the plurality of electromagnetic shielding members is wider at the pair of mating contact portions than at the pair of intermediate portions,
• wherein the pair of intermediate portions of each pair of signal conductors have a first orientation and the pair of mating contact portions of each pair of signal conductors have a second orientation different from the first orientation, and the plurality of electromagnetic shielding members have widening transition regions from the pairs of intermediate portions to the pairs of mating contact portions, and
• wherein the first orientation of the pairs of intermediate portions comprises broadside coupling, and the second orientation of the mating contact portions does not comprise broadside coupling.

An electrical connector, comprising:

• a plurality of pairs of signal conductors, each pair of signal conductors comprising:
• a pair of mating contact portions;
• a pair of contact tails;
• and
• a pair of intermediate portions coupling the pair of mating contact portions to the pair of contact tails, respectively, wherein the pair of intermediate portions comprise first portions that are proximate the pair of mating contact portions and second portions that are proximate the pair of contact tails, wherein the first portions extend in a first direction and the second portions extend in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction;
• and
• a plurality of electromagnetic shielding members disposed between adjacent pairs of the plurality of pairs of signal conductors and extending from the pair of contact tails to the pair of mating contact portions, wherein each of the plurality of electromagnetic shielding members is wider at the pair of mating contact portions than at the pair of intermediate portions,
• wherein a largest dimension of each of the plurality of electromagnetic shielding members at the pair of intermediate portions is smaller than a largest dimension of each of the plurality of electromagnetic shielding members at the pair of mating contact portions,
• wherein each of the plurality of electromagnetic shielding members comprises an at least partial enclosure around a respective pair of signal conductors of the plurality of pairs of signal conductors, and
• wherein the at least partial enclosure comprises a waveguide structure that supports an electromagnetic propagation mode at a frequency based on the largest dimension of the at least partial enclosure.

An electrical connector, comprising:

• a first plurality of pairs of signal conductors arranged in a first column extending along a column direction;
• a second plurality of pairs of signal conductors arranged in a second column extending along the column direction, the second column spaced from the first column in a row direction orthogonal to the column direction;
• at least one first reference conductor at least partially enclosing a first pair of signal conductors of the first plurality of pairs of signal conductors;
• at least one second reference conductor at least partially enclosing a second pair of signal conductors of the second plurality of pairs of signal conductors;
• and
• a conductively-coated plastic member electrically coupling the at least one first reference conductor and the at least one second reference conductor.