1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for connecting or splicing wire cables to one another.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
In-line devices for connecting or splicing two cables carrying pairs of twisted wire leads are generally known. In one such device, Radio Shack, #279-444, terminals of a modular plug on a first cable are electrically connected through eight parallel jackwires inside the device to corresponding terminals of a plug on a second cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,584 (May 2, 2000) discloses a dual-sided insulation displacement connector (IDC) block. The block has oppositely facing, electrically connected arrays of IDCs on both sides of the block. Each connector of one array is electrically connected to a matching connector of the other array via an internal metallic IDC terminal strip. U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,842 (Apr. 18, 2000) relates to an electrical connector with paired terminals for use with first and second wire pairs. Corresponding pairs of terminals of the connector are spaced closer together than terminals associated with different wire pairs, to reduce capacitive crosstalk between adjacent wire pairs.
A common problem with cable connecting devices, is that they tend to introduce crosstalk among signals carried over different pairs of cable wire leads which the devices interconnect. For a given connecting device, the level of crosstalk introduced b the device generally increases with the frequency of the disturbing signal. Thus, prior cable splice connectors which introduced little, if any, noticeable crosstalk at analog voice or low digital rate signal frequencies, may be unusable in high data rate applications such as Ethernet and other types of local area networks.
While techniques are known to reduce or to compensate for crosstalk introduced by certain kinds of cable plug connectors (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,800 issued Mar. 6, 2001, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention and application), such techniques are effective only when the crosstalk being introduced is at a constant level or has a predictable value. If the level of offending crosstalk can not be predicted such as may occur, for example, when pairs of cable leads to be spliced together are dressed and connected at terminals of a connector device in random fashion by installers in the field, any crosstalk produced by the overall cable splice cannot be effectively compensated by any fixed scheme.
Accordingly, there is a need for an in-line cable connector or splice assembly that will produce negligible, if any, crosstalk among different signals that are carried by pairs of wire leads in the cables to be joined. An in-line connector capable of maintaining so-called Category 6 performance with respect to crosstalk loss is especially desirable in today""s telecommunications environment. The Category 6 standard calls for at least 46 dB near-end crosstalk (NEXT) loss at 250 MHz.
According to the invention, a connector assembly for connecting wire leads of a first cable to corresponding wire leads of a second cable, includes a terminal housing structure having a first base, and a second base facing in a direction opposite the first base. First pairs of connector terminals are configured to connect with the first pairs of the wire leads, and second pairs of connector terminals are configured to connect with the second pairs of the wire leads. A wiring board is captured between the first and second bases of the housing structure, and the board has sets of four conductive terminal openings at corresponding locations in the board. The first pairs of connector terminals are mounted on one side of the board in corresponding first pairs of terminal openings, and the second pairs of connector terminals are mounted on the opposite side of the board in corresponding second pairs of terminal openings. The first and the second pairs of terminal openings are electrically connected to one another, so that a given pair of the first pairs of wire leads can be spliced to a corresponding pair of the second pairs of wire leads via the connector terminals associated with one of the sets of terminal openings in the wiring board. The terminal openings are spaced apart sufficiently to avoid cross-talk between connector terminals mounted in adjacent sets of the terminal openings.
For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and the appended claims.