Electrical connector with signal paired contacts and ground contacts arranged to minimize occurance of crosstalk

Claim 1

A connector adapted to be mounted on a substrate and to be connected to a mating object in a first direction, wherein the connector comprises: a plurality of contacts arranged in a second direction intersecting the first direction; and a housing holding the contacts; wherein each of the contacts comprises: a contacting portion to be contacted with the mating object; a terminal portion to be connected to the substrate; and an intermediate portion between the contacting portion and the terminal portion, the intermediate portion protruding from the housing; wherein the contacts include a plurality of paired signal contacts and a plurality of ground contacts; wherein the contacting portions of the paired signal contacts and the ground contacts are arranged in two rows extending in the second direction and in a staggered fashion; wherein a combination of the paired signal contacts in one of the rows and the ground contact in the other row forms a first set; wherein a combination of the paired signal contacts in the other row and the ground contact in the one row forms a second set adjacent to the first set in the second direction; and wherein, between the first and the second sets, adjacent ones of the intermediate portions are shifted in position from each other in the first direction while adjacent ones of the terminal portions are arranged on a line extending in the second direction.