US Patent 8998642 Connector with improved shielding in mating contact region

An electrical connector system includes a daughter card connector formed of a plurality of wafers. Each wafer is formed with cavities between the contacts of the signal conductors. The cavities are shaped to receive lossy inserts whereby crosstalk is reduced. The connector system may also or alternatively include a front housing formed with shield plates also to aid in reducing cross-talk. The front housing is adapted to mate between the wafers of the daughter card connector and a backplane connector of the electrical connector system. In an alternative embodiment, the front housing portion may include lossy conductive portions for cross-talk reduction.