Controlled impedance cable connector

An electrical connector for terminating a shielded cable and connecting the cable to regularly arranged contact pins, the connector comprising:

• a plurality of socket contacts for mating with a corresponding plurality of contact pins;
• a planar connector body formed from an insulative material, the connector body having an upper surface and an opposing lower surface, the upper and lower surfaces defined by a front edge, a back edge and two longitudinal side edges, the upper surface including a plurality of longitudinal channels, each channel containing one of the plurality of socket contacts, the front edge of the connector body having a plurality of openings for guiding the contact pins into the mating socket contacts positioned within the channels;
• a planar conductive ground plate engaged with the bottom surface of the connector body, the ground plate extending across each of the plurality of socket contacts to establish a ground plane equidistant from each of the plurality of socket contacts, wherein the ground plate includes at least one grounding tab positioned on the ground plate such that the at least one grounding tab passes through an opening on the bottom surface of the connector body to contact one of the socket contacts;
• and
• a cover member mated with the top surface of the connector body and enclosing the longitudinal channels and socket contacts.