Cross talk reduction and impedance matching for high speed electrical connectors

An electrical connector comprising:

• a first electrical connector half and a second electrical connector half that mates with the first electrical connector half, the first electrical connector half and the second electrical connector half each comprising:
• a first column of electrical contacts comprising a first differential signal pair of electrical contacts, a first ground contact adjacent to the first differential signal pair, a second differential signal pair of electrical contacts adjacent to the first ground contact, a second ground contact adjacent to the second differential signal pair, and a third differential signal pair of electrical contacts adjacent to the second ground contact;
• a second column of electrical contacts comprising a fourth differential signal pair of electrical contacts, a third ground contact adjacent to the fourth differential signal pair, a fifth differential signal pair of electrical contacts adjacent to the third ground contact, a fourth ground contact adjacent to the fifth differential signal pair, and a sixth differential signal pair of electrical contacts adjacent to the fourth ground contact;
• and
• a third column of electrical contacts comprising a seventh differential signal pair of electrical contacts, a fifth ground contact adjacent to the seventh differential signal pair, an eighth differential signal pair of electrical contacts adjacent to the fifth ground contact, a sixth ground contact adjacent to the eighth differential signal pair, and a ninth differential signal pair of electrical contacts adjacent to the sixth ground contact,
• wherein (i) the second column of electrical contacts is adjacent to the first column of electrical contacts and the third column of electrical contacts;
• (ii) the connector is devoid of electrical shields between the first, second, and third columns;
• (iii) the electrical contacts in the first column are spaced apart from the electrical contacts in the second column by a column-spacing distance, and the contacts in the second column are spaced apart from the contacts in the third column by the column-spacing distance;
• (iv) the electrical contacts that comprise the first differential signal pair are spaced apart by a gap distance that is less than the column-spacing distance;
• and (v) differential signals with rise times of 40 picoseconds in the six differential signal pairs in the first, second, and third columns that are closest to the fifth differential signal pair produce no more than 600 worst-case, multi-active cross talk on the fifth differential signal pair.

An electrical connector comprising:

• a first column of electrical contacts comprising a first arrangement of differential signal pairs each separated from one another by first ground contacts;
• a second column of electrical contacts comprising a second arrangement of differential signal pairs each separated from one another by second ground contacts, wherein one differential signal pair in the second arrangement of differential signal pairs is a victim pair;
• and
• a third column of electrical contacts comprising a third arrangement of differential signal pairs each separated from one another by third ground contacts,
• wherein (i) the second column is adjacent to the first column, and the third column is adjacent to the second column (ii) the connector is devoid of electrical shields between the first column and the second column, and between the second column and the third column;
• (iii) the first column, the second column, and the third column are evenly spaced apart from one another by an equal column-spacing distance of about 1.8 to 2 millimeters;
• (iv) each of the differential signal pairs defines a gap distance between electrical contacts that form each differential signal pair;
• and (v) the gap distance relative to the column-spacing distance is such that differential signals with rise times of 40 picoseconds in the six differential signal pairs in the first, second, and third columns that are closest to the victim pair produce no more than an acceptable level of worst-case, multi-active cross talk on the victim pair.

An electrical connector comprising:

• a first linear array of electrical contacts comprising
• a first signal contact that defines a first side and a first edge, wherein the first side is two or more times greater in length than the first edge;
• a second signal contact positioned adjacent to the first signal contact, wherein the second signal contact defines a second side and a second edge and the second side is two or more times greater in length that the second edge;
• and
• a first ground contact positioned adjacent to the first signal contact;
• and a second linear array of electrical contacts comprising
• a third signal contact that defines a third side and a third edge, wherein the third side is two or more times greater in length than the third edge;
• a fourth signal contact positioned adjacent to the third signal contact, wherein the fourth signal contact defines a fourth side and a fourth edge and the fourth side is two or more times greater in length that the fourth edge;
• and
• a second ground contact positioned along an imaginary line that is perpendicular to the first linear array of electrical contacts,
• wherein (i) the first signal contact and the second signal contact are positioned edge-to-edge and form a first differential signal pair;
• (ii) the third signal contact and the fourth signal contact are positioned edge-to-edge and form a second differential signal pair;
• (iii) the first signal contact is positioned along the imaginary line that is perpendicular to the first linear array of electrical contacts;
• (iv) the connector is devoid of electrical shields between the first linear array of electrical contacts and the second linear array of electrical contacts;
• (v) a gap distance between the first and second signal contacts is less than a distance between the first signal contact and the second ground contact, and (vi) electrical contacts that form the first differential signal pair each terminate at a respective end thereof with a corresponding fusible mounting element.