High speed cable termination electrical connector assembly

An electrical connector assembly for transmitting electrical signals between a printed circuit board and an electrical cable, the assembly comprising:

• the printed circuit board having a plurality of signal traces and at least one ground trace;
• a header body mounted on the printed circuit board, the header body supporting a plurality of signal pins and a plurality of ground pins, wherein the plurality of signal pins are electrically connected to the plurality of signal traces and wherein the plurality of ground pins are electrically connected to the at least one ground trace;
• a carrier body configured to mate with the header body;
• and
• a plurality of electrical cable terminations retained within the carrier body, each of the plurality of cable terminations including a pair of signal contacts positioned within an interior of an electrically conductive housing and at least two ground contacts, wherein at least one of the ground contacts extends from an exterior of the housing;
• wherein the header body and cable terminations are configured such that each of the plurality of cable terminations makes electrical contact with a pair of the signal pins and a pair of the ground pins when the header and carrier bodies are in a mated configuration, the pair of signal pins positioned between the pair of ground pins, and
• wherein when the housing is a shield box and mated to a header it is grounded on more than two sides.

An electrical connector assembly for transmitting electrical signals, the assembly comprising:

• a header having a plurality of rows of male contacts, each row of the male contacts comprising one or more of a signal pin, a ground pin, and a power pin;
• and
• a plurality of electrical cable terminations, each of the plurality of cable terminations comprising,
• an electrically conductive housing,
• at least one internal contact positioned within an interior of the housing and electrically insulated from the housing, the internal contact comprising one of a signal contact, a ground contact, and a power contact, and
• at least two external contacts extending from an exterior of the housing, each of the external contacts comprising one of a ground contact and a power contact
• wherein the at least one internal contact and at least two external contacts are linearly aligned;
• wherein the cable terminations are configured to mate with the header such that, for each cable termination, the at least one internal contact and the ground contacts engage corresponding ones of the plurality of male contacts when the header and cable terminations are in a mated configuration, and wherein two or more adjacent cable terminations share two or more common grounds.