The subject matter herein relates generally to grounding connector assemblies.
Some electrical systems utilize electrical connectors to interconnect two circuit boards, such as a motherboard and daughtercard. In some systems, to electrically connect the electrical connectors, a midplane circuit board is provided with front and rear header connectors on opposed front and rear sides of the midplane circuit board. Other systems electrically connect the circuit boards without the use of a midplane circuit board by directly connecting electrical connectors on the circuit boards.
However, as speed and performance demands increase, known electrical connectors are proving to be insufficient. Signal loss and/or signal degradation is a problem in known electrical systems. Additionally, there is a desire to increase the density of electrical connectors to increase throughput of the electrical system, without an appreciable increase in size of the electrical connectors, and in some cases, with a decrease in size of the electrical connectors. Some known connector systems increase density by coupling multiple contact modules side by side within a single receptacle assembly. Such increase in density and/or reduction in size causes further strains on performance.
In order to address performance, some known systems utilize shielding to reduce interference between the contacts of the electrical connectors. However, the shielding utilized in known systems is not without disadvantages. For instance, electrically connecting the grounded components of the two electrical connectors at the mating interface of the electrical connectors is difficult and defines an area where signal degradation occurs due to improper shielding at the interface. For example, some known systems include ground shields on both sides of the contact modules that connect to corresponding header shields of the mating connector. However, conventional electrical connectors have poor connections between the ground shields and the conductive holder and/or between the conductive holders of the contact module that provides shielding around the contacts. Additionally, the contact modules are typically made from two halves coupled together. The ground shields, when making connection to the header shields, may tend to force the two halves apart, which is problematic.
A need remains for an electrical system that provides efficient shielding to meet particular performance demands. A need remains for an electrical system that provides structural support to contact modules of a receptacle assembly.