Mezzanine connector assembly

A mezzanine connector assembly comprising:

• a mezzanine receptacle connector comprising a housing mounted to a first circuit board and elongated along a longitudinal axis, the mezzanine receptacle connector having receptacle contacts held by the housing and a receptacle ground lattice held by the housing, the receptacle ground lattice comprising longitudinal receptacle ground shields extending longitudinally within the housing generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, and the receptacle ground lattice comprising lateral receptacle ground shields extending laterally within the housing generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the longitudinal receptacle ground shields being mechanically and electrically connected to the lateral receptacle ground shields to form the receptacle ground lattice;
• and
• a mezzanine header connector coupled to the mezzanine receptacle connector at a mating interface, the mezzanine header connector comprising at least one housing frame having a front at the mating interface and a rear mounted to a second circuit board and holding at least one contact assembly, each contact assembly comprising a plurality of header contacts having mating segments mated with corresponding receptacle contacts, the at least one housing frame being conductive and providing electrical shielding between the front and the rear for the header contacts, the mezzanine header connector comprising a header ground lattice provided at the front of the at least one housing frame, the header ground lattice being electrically connected to the at least one conductive housing frame to continue the electrical shielding at the mating interface of the mezzanine header connector, the header ground lattice comprising longitudinal header ground shields extending longitudinally within the at least one housing frame generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, and the header ground lattice comprising lateral header ground shields extending laterally within the at least one housing frame generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the longitudinal header ground shields being mechanically and electrically connected to the lateral header ground shields to form the header ground lattice;
• wherein the longitudinal header ground shields are mechanically and electrically connected to corresponding longitudinal receptacle ground shields and the lateral header ground shields are mechanically and electrically connected to corresponding lateral receptacle ground shields to form shield boxes surrounding mating interfaces of corresponding receptacle and header contacts.

A mezzanine connector assembly comprising:

• a mezzanine receptacle connector comprising a housing mounted to a first circuit board and elongated along a longitudinal axis, the mezzanine receptacle connector having receptacle contacts held by the housing and a receptacle ground lattice held by the housing, the receptacle ground lattice comprising longitudinal receptacle ground shields extending longitudinally within the housing generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, and the receptacle ground lattice comprising lateral receptacle ground shields extending laterally within the housing generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the longitudinal receptacle ground shields being mechanically and electrically connected to the lateral receptacle ground shields to form the receptacle ground lattice;
• and
• a mezzanine header connector coupled to the mezzanine receptacle connector, the mezzanine header connector comprising header modules stacked together and mounted to a second circuit board, the header modules each comprising a conductive housing frame holding at least one contact assembly, each contact assembly comprising a plurality of header contacts having mating segments mated with corresponding receptacle contacts, the conductive housing frame providing electrical shielding for the header contacts, the mezzanine header connector comprising a header ground lattice provided at a front of the header modules, the header ground lattice comprising longitudinal header ground shields extending longitudinally within the at least one housing frame generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, and the header ground lattice comprising lateral header ground shields extending laterally within the at least one housing frame generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the longitudinal header ground shields being mechanically and electrically connected to the lateral header ground shields to form the header ground lattice;
• wherein the longitudinal header ground shields are mechanically and electrically connected to corresponding longitudinal receptacle ground shields and the lateral header ground shields are mechanically and electrically connected to corresponding lateral receptacle ground shields to form shield boxes surrounding mating interfaces of corresponding receptacle and header contacts;
• and
• wherein the longitudinal and lateral header ground shields are mechanically and electrically connected to the conductive housing frames to electrically common the header ground lattice and receptacle ground lattice with the housing frames to provide shielding along the header contacts from the mating interfaces with the receptacle contacts to the second circuit board.