High speed electrical connector

An electrical connector comprising:

• a connector housing holding signal and ground contacts organized into contact groups, each contact group having at least two signal contacts and a single ground contact, said contact groups being aligned in parallel rows, wherein said contact groups in each of said rows are staggered with respect to said contract groups in adjacent rows, wherein each of said ground contacts has a blade section isolating said signal contacts in a corresponding contact group from signal contacts in said adjacent rows.

An electrical connector comprising:

• a connector housing holding signal contacts and ground contacts in an array organized into rows, each row including ground contacts separated by signal contact pairs, wherein said ground contacts and signal contact pairs are ordered in different first and second patterns, respectively, in adjacent first and second rows in said array, wherein said first and second rows are staggered relative to one another so that said signal contact pairs in said first and second rows are separated from one another by said ground contacts, and wherein a first signal contact pair in said first row is shielded from a second signal contact pair in said first row by a first ground contact, and wherein said first row is staggered with respect to said second row so that said first signal contact pair is shielded from a third signal contact pair in said second row by said first ground contact.