Electrical connector having bussed ground contacts

An electrical connector comprising:

• a shell having a cable end and a mating end, the shell defining a cavity, the cavity extending between a cable opening at the cable end and a mating opening at the mating end;
• a contact assembly held in the shell, the contact assembly including a holder, multiple ground contacts, and multiple signal contacts, the holder extending longitudinally between a front end and a rear end, the ground contacts and the signal contacts each having a mating segment proximate to the front end and a terminating segment proximate to the rear end, the ground contacts and the signal contacts interspersed laterally across a width of the holder, the mating segments of the ground contacts being mechanically connected to the mating segments of nearest ground contacts via bridge members to electrically common the ground contacts;
• and
• plural cables terminated to the contact assembly within the cavity of the shell, the cables extending from the cable end of the shell through the cable opening, the cables each including at least one signal conductor and at least one grounding element, the signal conductors of the cables terminating to the terminating segments of the signal contacts, the grounding elements of the cables terminating to the terminating segments of the ground contacts.

An electrical connector comprising:

• a shell having a cable end and a mating end, the shell defining a cavity, the cavity extending between a cable opening at the cable end and a mating opening at the mating end;
• a contact module held in the cavity of the shell, the contact module having first and second contact assemblies that each include a holder, multiple signal contacts, and multiple ground contacts, the holders each have an inner side and an outer side, the inner side of the holder of the first contact assembly facing the inner side of the holder of the second contact assembly such that the outer sides face outward, the signal contacts and ground contacts being held along the outer side of the respective holder, distal tips of the ground contacts of each contact assembly extending from the outer side of the respective holder in an interior direction towards the inner side and towards the distal tips of the ground contacts of the other of the first or second contact assembly, the distal tips of nearest ground contacts of each contact assembly being mechanically connected to each other via bridge members, the bridge members being disposed within an interior region of the respective holder between the outer side and the inner side;
• and
• plural cables terminated to the contact module within the cavity of the shell, the cables extending from the cable end of the shell through the cable opening.