Connector with Capacitive Crosstalk Compensation to Reduce Alien Crosstalk

A telecommunications connector comprising:

• a plurality of electrical conductors arranged in differential pairs;
• a circuit board having a plurality of conductive layers, the plurality of conductive layers including a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer and a third conductive layer, the circuit board including a cross-talk compensation arrangement for applying capacitance between at least some of the electrical conductors, the cross-talk compensation arrangement including a plurality of open-ended conductive paths including conductive pads provided at the first conductive layer, the open-ended conductive paths also including conductive vias that extend between the first, second and third conductive layers and that intersect the conductive pads, the open-ended conductive paths providing a first capacitive coupling at a first discrete capacitive coupling location at the third conductive layer, the second conductive layer including a non-ohmic conductive plate having a first side that faces toward the first discrete capacitive coupling location, the first side and the first discrete capacitive coupling location being relatively positioned such that the first side is adapted to reflect radiant energy from the first discrete capacitive coupling location back towards the first discrete capacitive coupling location to intensify the first capacitive coupling, wherein overlap is provided between the conductive plate and at least some of the conductive pads, and wherein at least one of the conductive vias passes through the conductive plate without electrically connecting to the conductive plate.

A telecommunications jack comprising:

• a front housing defining a plug port;
• a circuit board positioned within the front housing;
• first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth consecutively arranged electrical contact springs arranged in differential pairs;
• the circuit board having a plurality of conductive layers, the plurality of conductive layers including a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer and a third conductive layer, the second conductive layer being positioned between the first and third conductive layers, the circuit board including a cross-talk compensation arrangement for applying capacitance between at least some of the electrical contact springs, the cross-talk compensation arrangement including a plurality of open-ended conductive paths that provide a first capacitive coupling at a first discrete capacitive coupling location at the first conductive layer and a second capacitive coupling at a second discrete capacitive coupling location at the third conductive layer, the first capacitive coupling being applied between the third and fifth electrical contact springs and the second capacitive coupling being applied between the third and seventh electrical contact springs, the second conductive layer including a conductive plate positioned between the first and second discrete capacitive coupling locations, the conductive plate being an ohmic plate that is electrically connected to the third electrical contact spring, the conductive plate including a first surface that faces toward the first discrete capacitive coupling location and an opposite second surface that faces toward the second discrete capacitive coupling location, wherein the conductive plate and the first and second discrete capacitive coupling locations are relatively positioned such that:
• a) the first surface is adapted to reflect radiant energy from the first discrete capacitive coupling location back towards the first discrete capacitive coupling location to intensify the first capacitive coupling;
• and b) the second surface is adapted to reflect radiant energy from the second discrete capacitive coupling location back towards the second discrete capacitive coupling location to intensify the second capacitive coupling.

A telecommunications connector for use in a twisted pair system, the connector comprising:

• a plurality of electrical conductors arranged in differential pairs;
• and
• a circuit board including conductive tracks that electrically connect to the plurality of electrical conductors;
• a crosstalk compensation arrangement disposed on the circuit board and including a plurality of crosstalk compensating capacitances applied between electrical conductors associated with the differential pairs and selected such that, for each differential pair, a magnitude of an overall capacitance at a first electrical conductor of a differential pair is approximately equal to a magnitude of an overall capacitance at a second electrical conductor of the differential pair.

A telecommunications connector for use in a twisted pair system, the jack comprising:

• a plurality of electrical conductors arranged in differential pairs;
• and
• a circuit board including conductive tracks that electrically connect to the plurality of electrical conductors;
• a crosstalk compensation arrangement disposed on the circuit board and including a plurality of crosstalk compensating capacitances applied between electrical conductors associated with the differential pairs and selected such that, for each differential pair, a difference in magnitudes of an overall capacitance at a first electrical conductor and an overall capacitance at a second electrical conductor of the differential pair is minimized.