USRE41052E1 - Jack including crosstalk compensation for printed circuit board - Google Patents

Abstract

A forward-reverse crosstalk compensation method is provided for compensating capacitance/inductance on a printed circuit board of a connector. The method includes a forward compensation process and a reverse compensation process. The forward compensation process compensates the unbalanced capacitance in the plug of the connector by using the parallel conductive lines or wires. The reverse compensation process can be used to compensate the unbalance capacitance/inductance caused by the forward compensations in the same pair combination of the connector. In both forward compensation and reverse compensation processes, electro-magnetic fields, such as capacitors, can be formed to balance the capacitance/inductance on the printed circuit board of the connector.

Description

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/378,105, filed Aug. 20, 1999 now Pat. No. 6,089,923 which application(s) are incorporated herein by reference.Notice: More than one reissue application has been filed for the reissue of U.S. Pat. No.6,428,362. The reissue patent applications include the present application and patent application Ser. No.11/253,281, filed Oct.17,2005. The present application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No.11/253,281. U.S. Pat. No.6,428,362 is a continuation of patent application Ser. No.09/378,105, filed Aug.20,1999, now U.S. Pat. No.6,089,923. The above noted applications are incorporated into the present application by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and specifically to electrical connectors having closely spaced contacts and printed circuit boards where interference from crosstalk in the connector is a concern.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various electrical connectors are known for use in the telecommunications industry to transmit voice, data, and video signals. It is common for some electrical connectors to be configured to include a plug which is connectable to a jack mounted in the wall, or as part of a panel or other telecommunications equipment mounted to a rack or cabinet. The jack includes a housing which holds a plurality of closely spaced contact springs in the appropriate position for contacting the contacts of a plug inserted into the jack. The contact springs of the jack are often mounted to a printed circuit board, either vertically or horizontally. An RJ45 plug and jack connector system is one well known standard including closely spaced contacts.

Crosstalk between the contacts and circuit pathways in telecommunications connectors is a concern. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,299,956 and 5,700,167 are examples of various connectors including jacks and plugs which attempt to address the problem of crosstalk in the circuit board. It is desired to improve performance of the electrical connectors, such as an RJ45 connector, where crosstalk problems increase as higher frequencies are transmitted through the connector.

Most of the crosstalk problems occurring in a connector, such as an RJ45 connector, is mainly caused by the plug. This crosstalk is produced by the non-periodic or random discharges of crosstalk energy due to the imbalanced capacitance and/or inductance in the plug and the contact springs of a jack. RJ45 types of connectors are mainly used with balanced twisted pairs of conductors or wires. There is no grounding to shield the crosstalk energy.

One of the known techniques commonly used to solve the crosstalk problem in a connector is to balance the capacitance on the printed circuit board or on a substrate of the connector to minimize or eliminate the leaking energies from the unbalanced capacitance. The known method of reducing crosstalk generally includes forming of a capacitor by using two parallel conductive lines or wires and inducing electro-magnetic field to compensate the lesser field produced by the capacitive imbalance in the plug. This method is often referred to as capacitance balancing or capacitive compensation. The known compensation technique is applied at the nearest unbalanced components, which are the contact springs of a jack and the mated RJ45 plug. This technique is very useful for the TIA/EIAcategory5 and Enhanced category5 (5E) connector. However, the crosstalk performance of these connectors is rated only up to 100 MHz. Higher frequencies are in demand in the telecommunication and data transmission industry. The TIA/EIAcategory6 connector standards have been proposed to meet the demand. Under the proposedcategory6 standards, the connector is required to meet the crosstalk specifications up to 250 MHz, which is about 150% more bandwidth than thecategory5's.

In order to meet this specifications, additional compensations or additional parallel conductive lines are needed to be placed on the circuit board at the nearest unbalanced components. It has been found that capacitive compensation only worsens the directivity or equal-level of the far-end crosstalk (FEXT) of the connector because the capacitor formed by two conductive lines has an inductive effect which is not accountable for. Also, it has been found that the additional compensation has a reverse capacitive effect on the near-end crosstalk (NEXT) of the connector. Generally, the far end and the near end are defined according to the two ends of the printed circuit board. The end to which signals are being injected is the near end. The opposite is the far end.

In addition, the natural crosstalk characteristic for short transmission lines, i.e. −20 dB per frequency decade, will be lost if the connector is heavily compensated. This natural crosstalk characteristic is generally required to be maintained in order for a connector to meet thecategory6 crosstalk specifications.

Accordingly, the known compensation technique is either insufficient to compensate the crosstalk, or problematic by overcompensating for the crosstalk. The known compensation technique has been considered ineffective when applied to the development of acategory6 or acategory6 type of connector, and particularly, it is unable to meet the crosstalk specifications up to 250 MHz.

Thus, there is a need for a connector including an improved crosstalk compensation technique for a printed circuit board. Further, there is a need for a connector with balanced capacitance and/or inductance on the printed circuit board to minimize or eliminate crosstalk in the connector.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method of compensating crosstalk for a printed circuit board of a connector. The present invention also provides a connector including such crosstalk compensation method.

The present method of compensating crosstalk for a printed circuit board includes a forward compensation process and a reverse compensation process. The forward compensation process compensates capacitively for the unbalanced capacitance in the plug by forming capacitors, for example, using the parallel conductive lines or wires on the printed circuit board. The reverse compensation process can be used to compensate the unbalanced capacitance and inductance caused by the forward compensations in the same pair combination of the connector. In other words, the reverse compensation negates the forward compensation at the far-end of the printed circuit board by forming capacitors, for example, using the parallel conductive lines or wires, at the far-end of the printed circuit board.

In one aspect of the present invention, the method of compensating crosstalk in a connector arrangement includes: providing a plurality of pairs of conductors on a printed circuit board, the pairs of conductors connecting to respective front and rear terminals, each pair of conductors including a ring conductor and a tip conductor, and the ring and tip conductors being substantially disposed in parallel to control the transmission line impedence; sending electrical signals between the front and rear terminals; generating forward-compensating capacitance, induced between two of the pairs of conductors, proximate the respective front terminals by providing a first capacitor between a first conductor of the first pair and a second conductor of the second pair and providing a second capacitor between a second conductor of the first pair and a first conductor of the second pair; and generating reverse-compensating capacitance/inductance to compensate the unbalanced capacitance/inductance induced between the two pairs of conductors by the first and second capacitors at the front terminal. The reverse-compensating capacitance/inductance is disposed proximate the rear terminals by providing a third capacitor between the first conductor of the first pair and the first conductor of the second pair and providing a fourth capacitor between the second conductor of the first pair and the second conductor of the second pair.

Accordingly, unbalanced capacitance/inductance, induced between the two pairs of conductors on the printed circuit board is compensated by the first, second, third, and fourth capacitors.

In one aspect of the present invention, the capacitance/inductance of the same two pairs of conductors is compensated at the opposite terminals in the reverse compensation process.

In another aspect of the present invention, the forward-reverse compensation technique can also be applied to minimize or eliminate crosstalk induced between any other combinations of two pairs of conductors on the printed circuit board.

One of the advantages of the forward-reverse compensation technique is that by reversing the compensations of ones at the opposite terminals, both the far-end crosstalk performance and the near-end crosstalk performance are improved. The inductance effect resulted from forming the capacitors at the front terminals of the printed circuit board of the connector is also balanced.

These and various other features as well as advantages that characterize the present invention will be apparent upon reading of the following detailed description and review of the associated drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several aspects of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. A brief description of the drawings is as follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printed circuit board of one embodiment of the present invention for a telecommunications jack including contact springs at a front portion, and cable terminals at a rear portion;

FIG. 2 is a front end view of a modular jack including the circuit board ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the jack ofFIG. 2, and showing a plug mounted in the opening of the jack;

FIG. 4 is an exploded side view of the jack ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the circuit board ofFIG. 1, with four layers, and showing certain circuit pathways of the four layers of the illustrated preferred embodiment, including the main signal pathways between the front portion and the rear portion of the board, and additional compensation circuit pathways;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the first layer of the circuit board ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a top view of the second layer of the circuit board ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a top view of the third layer of the circuit board ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the fourth layer of the circuit board ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a more complete top view of the circuit board ofFIG. 5 showing more of the circuit pathways in the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a top view of the first layer of the circuit board ofFIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a top view of the second layer of the circuit board ofFIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a top view of the third layer of the circuit board ofFIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a top view of the fourth layer of the circuit board ofFIG. 10;

FIG. 15 is a table showing tip/ring pair connections and polarities applied to the ends or terminals of the tip/ring connections on the circuit board;

FIG. 16 is a table showing pair combinations and capacitance between the pairs of each pair combination;

FIG. 17 is an illustration of an example of pin configurations of a typical connector, for example, a RJ45 connector;

FIG. 18 is an illustration of capacitance between pairs I and II carried from the plug and compensating capacitance between pairs I and II at both front and rear terminals;

FIG. 19 is an illustration of capacitance between pairs I and II at the front terminals and compensating capacitance between pairs I and II at the rear terminals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary aspects of the present invention that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIGS. 1-4 show an example of ajack26 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. In the example shown,jack32 defines a modular jack construction for mounting to a wall plate, panel or other mounting structure.Jack26 defines aport30 for receiving aplug32. A plurality of contact springs34 are positioned withinport30 to engage one of a plurality ofcontacts36 in theplug32. Theplug32 includes aresilient latch33. When theplug36 is inserted into theport30, thelatch33 interlocks with afront tab35 of thejack26 to retain theplug32 within theport30. To remove theplug32, thelatch33 is depressed thereby allowing theplug32 to be pulled from theport30.

As shown in the illustrated preferred embodiment, thejack26 and plug32 is an 8 contact type (i.e., 4 twisted pair) connector arrangement. While the various aspects of the present invention are particularly useful for 8 contact modular connectors, it will be appreciated that other types of connectors could also be used.

Referring also toFIGS. 5-14, thejack26 includes a printedcircuit board40 which includes afront portion42, and arear portion44. Thefront portion42 includes a plurality offront terminals46 labeled1-8. The contact springs34 extend from thecircuit board40 at thefront terminals46 to engage thecontacts36 of theplug32. Therear portion44 of thecircuit board40 includes a plurality ofrear terminals48 labeled1-8. Therear terminals48 are connectable to cables such as through insulation displacement contacts (IDC)49. Between the front andrear terminals46,48 oncircuit board40 are circuit lines or pathways50. As will be described in greater detail below,additional circuit pathways52 are provided to compensate for crosstalk.

Thejack26 includes afront jack housing54, and arear insert assembly56 in the illustrated preferred embodiment. Thejack housing54 is adapted to be snap-fit into a face plate, panel, or other mounting arrangement.

Theinsert assembly56 is adapted to snap fit within aback side61 of thehousing54. Theinsert assembly56 includes aconnector mount66, a plurality ofinsulation displacement terminals68, atermination cap70, thecircuit board40, and the contact springs34 (e.g., eight contact springs) mounted on thecircuit board40. When assembled, theinsulation displacement terminals68 and thetermination cap70 mount at a top side of theconnector mount66, while thecircuit board40 mounts to a bottom side of theconnector mount66. As so assembled, the contact springs34 project upward between resilient locking tabs76 (only one shown) of theconnector mount66. The lockingtabs76 are adapted to snap fit within correspondingopenings78 defined by thehousing54. Further detail relating to an exemplary housing and connector mount suitable for practicing the present invention are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/327,053, filed Jun. 7, 1999 that is hereby incorporated by reference. Details relating to contact spring configurations suitable for use with the present invention are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/378,404, which is entitled Telecommunications Connector for High Frequency Transmissions, which was filed on a date concurrent with the filing date of this application, and which is hereby incorporated by reference. Other spring configurations are possible, such as those shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/231,736, filed Jan. 15, 1999 hereby incorporated by reference. Other spring configurations are possible for use withcircuit board40, as desired. Further,front terminals46 are shown in 3 rows acrossboard40 in the preferred embodiment. Other arrangements are possible such as more or less rows.

FIG. 3 shows themodular plug32 inserted within theport30 defined by afront side84 of thehousing54. Theplug32 includes eightcontacts36 that provide electrical connections with the contact springs34 of themodular jack26 when theplug32 is inserted within theport30. For example,FIG. 3 shows one of thecontacts36 in electrical contact with one of the contact springs34. As shown inFIGS. 1,3 and4, the contact springs34 are in a deflected orientation, such as that caused by thecontacts36 ofplug32. In the undeflected orientation, contact springs34 have their free ends further spaced fromboard40 than the illustrated deflected orientation.

InFIG. 5, thecircuit board40 preferably includes four layers shown inFIGS. 6-9, respectively. Circuit pathways betweenfront terminals46 labeled1-8 at thefront portion42 andrear terminals48 labeled1-8 at therear portion44 are all shown inFIG. 5 for explanation purposes.FIGS. 6-9 illustrate a preferred layout of the circuit pathways in four layers, such that the crossover between the conductive lines or wires is on different layers. The illustrated layout of the pathways conforms with the industry standards. The front terminal or pin46-1 is connected to the opposite rear terminal or pin48-1 via a transmission path or conductor50-1. Similarly, the other front terminals or pins46-N are connected to the rear terminals or pins48-N, respectively, via transmission paths50-N.

In a typical terminal pin assignments, such as in a RJ45 connector, best shown inFIG. 15, transmission paths50-4 and50-5 form a pair I where transmission path50-5 is a tip line, and transmission path50-4 is a ring line; transmission path50-3 and50-6 form a pair II where transmission path50-3 is a tip line, and transmission path50-6 is a ring line; transmission paths50-1 and50-2 form a pair III where transmission path50-1 is a tip line, and transmission path50-2 is a ring line; and transmission paths50-7 and50-8 form a pair IV where transmission path50-7 is a ring line, and transmission path50-8 is a ring line. The tip terminal generally has a positive polarity, and the ring terminal generally has a negative polarity. It is appreciated that the pin assignments can be varied without departing from the principle of the present application. For example, transmission path50-3 and50-6 can be referred to as pair III, and transmission path50-1 and50-2 can be referred to as pair II.

InFIG. 5, the transmission paths of each pair are substantially parallel to each other. As shown, the transmission paths50-4 and50-5 are parallel; the transmission paths50-3 and50-6 are parallel; the transmission paths50-1 and50-2 are parallel; the transmission paths50-7 and50-8 are parallel. These are the main signal pathways between thefront portion42 and therear portion44 of thecircuit board40.

In addition, inFIG. 5, compensationconductive lines52 are added and disposed in parallel to form capacitors52-C. The added capacitors compensate the unbalanced capacitance carried from the plug to thefront portion42 of thecircuit board40. InFIG. 16, a table of capacitance between each two pairs of transmission paths are shown. By way of an example, between pairs I and II, there are four capacitance, C34, C35, C65, C64. As illustrated inFIG. 17, due to the distance and/or location of the contacts in the plug, C34 is larger than C35, and C65 is larger than C64. Thus, the capacitance is unbalanced between C34 and C35 in the I/II pairs. Also, the capacitance is unbalanced between C65 and C64 in the I/II pairs.

The forward compensation is illustrated in FIG.18. At thefront portion42 of the connector, a capacitor C35′ is added in dashed lines between terminals46-3 and46-5, such that the capacitance between terminals46-3 and46-4 and the capacitance between terminals46-3 and46-5 are balanced.

Similarly, inFIG. 18, a capacitor C64′ is added in dashed lines between terminals46-4 and46-6, such that the capacitance between terminals46-4 and46-6 and the capacitance between terminals46-5 and46-6 are balanced.

As shown inFIG. 18, at therear portion44, the capacitance is generally minimal due to the isolation provided by the isolation displacement contacts (IDCs)49 (FIG.4). However, the addition of the capacitors C35′ and C64′ causes capacitance/inductance unbalance on the printed circuit board between the front and rear portions. To compensate for such induced unbalance of the capacitance on the printed circuit board, a capacitor C65′ is further added in dashed lines between rear terminal48-5 and rear terminal48-6; and a capacitor C34′ is further added in dashed lines between rear terminal48-3 and rear terminal48-4, as shown in FIG.19. Accordingly, the capacitance/inductance with respect to pairs I and II between the front and rear portions of the printed circuit board is balanced. In other words, C65′ and C34′ reverse-compensate the capacitance/inductance unbalance caused by the addition of C35′ and C64′.

As shown inFIG. 5, the forward compensation is performed at thefront portion42. The capacitor C35′ between terminal46-3 and terminal46-5 is formed by two parallel conductive lines52-C35′. The capacitor C64′ between terminal46-6 and terminal46-4 is formed by two parallel conductive lines52-C64′. Additional capacitors, such as52-C64″ and52-C35″, can be used if desired to increase or adjust the capacitance at thefront portion42.

Also as shown inFIG. 5, the reverse compensation is performed at therear portion44. The capacitor C65′ between terminal48-6 and terminal48-5 is formed by two parallel conductive lines52-C65′. The capacitor C34′ between terminal48-3 and terminal48-4 is formed by two parallel conductive lines52-C34′. It is appreciated that additional capacitors can be used if desired to balance the capacitance/inductance resulted from thefront portion42.

The compensatingconductive lines52 are terminated on the isolation displacement contacts with a preferable 100 Ohm resistor as generally specified in the industry. It is appreciated that other resistance can be used at the terminal within the scope of the present invention. Further, the shape or type of compensating capacitors can be varied. For example, C64′, C35′, C34′, C64″, and C35″ are capacitors formed on the same layer as shown inFIGS. 6-9. As shown inFIGS. 6-7, C65′ is formed on two different layers. Also, as shown inFIG. 8, C35″ is formed between transmission path50-3 and an additional compensating conductive line52-5. It is appreciated that other forms of an electro-magnetic field besides capacitors can be used within the scope of the present invention.

In a preferred printed circuit board arrangement, the layer shown inFIG. 6 is the first layer of thecircuit board40, the layer shown inFIG. 7 is the second layer of thecircuit board40, the layer shown inFIG. 8 is the third layer of thecircuit board40, and the layer shown inFIG. 9 is the fourth layer of thecircuit board40. It is appreciated that other printed circuit board arrangements can be used without departing from the principles of the present invention.

Accordingly, by reversing the compensations of ones at opposite terminals, i.e. at therear portion44, the forward-reverse compensation processes allow the capacitance/inductance induced between pair I and pair II to be balanced on the printed circuit board. As a result, crosstalk caused by the imbalanced capacitance/inductance of pair I and pair II is minimized or eliminated.

It is appreciated that the imbalance capacitance/inductance caused by the other pair combinations, such as the other five pair combinations shown inFIG. 16, i.e., I III, II V, II/III, II/IV, and III/IV, can be minimized or eliminated by applying the same principle of the present invention. It is also noted that the imbalance capacitance/inductance caused by pairs III/IV may be negligible due to the far distance between the two pairs.

FIG. 10 illustrates a top view of a more complete capacitance/inductance compensation arrangement on the printedcircuit board40 in a preferred embodiment. It is more complete in a sense that capacitance/inductance imbalance from the other pair combinations (except the combination of pair III and pair IV) are considered. Accordingly, additional capacitors, such as52-C13′, can be used to minimize or eliminate the capacitance imbalance induced by pair II and pair III. InFIG. 11, the capacitor C13′ is formed by a conductive line52-C13′ between the terminal46-1 and the terminal46-3. In each case, once a capacitor is added to compensate the capacitance imbalance at thefront portion42, another capacitor, for example,52-C23′, is added to compensate the capacitance/inductance imbalance at therear portion44.

The capacitors for pair combinations (except pair combination III/IV) are52-C46′,52-C68′,52-C25′,52-C65′,52-C67′, and52-C67″ as shown inFIG. 11;52-C68″,52-C58′,52-C13″,52-C53′,52-C57′,52-C23′, and52-C15′ as shown inFIG. 12;52-C47′,52-C35′, and52-C34′ as shown inFIG. 13;52-C46″,52-C14′, and52-C26′ as shown in FIG.14. It is appreciated the layout of the resistors can be changed between the layers without departing the scope of the present invention. It is noted that when the space on one layer for a compensating capacitor, for example52-C67′, is not sufficient, additional compensating capacitor52-C67″ is formed in a different layer.

In a preferred embodiment, the layer shown inFIG. 11 is the first layer of the circuit board of FIG.10. The layer shown inFIG. 12 is the second layer of the circuit board of FIG.10. The layer shown inFIG. 13 is the third layer of the circuit board of FIG.10. The layer shown inFIG. 14 is the fourth layer of the circuit board of FIG.10. It is appreciated that other circuit layer arrangements in the connector can be used within the scope of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that the forward-reverse compensating technique can also be used to compensate unbalanced inductance in the plug and/or contact springs by forming additional capacitors in the reverse compensation process.

It will also be appreciated that other types of electro-magnetic field can be used to compensate unbalanced capacitance/inductance on the printed circuit board. For example, the electro-magnetic field can be a combination of capacitor and inductor.

It is further appreciated that the capacitors and/or inductors used in the forward-reverse compensation technique can be implemented in other parts of the connector, i.e. not necessarily on the printed circuit board, without departing from the principles of the present invention.

The forward-reverse crosstalk compensation technique of the present invention significantly improves the near-end as well as the far-end crosstalk performance. For example, the near-end crosstalk can be as low as −64 dB at 100 MHz frequency and as low as −48 at 250 MHz frequency. The far-end crosstalk can be as low as −52 dB at 100 MHz frequency and as low as −44 dB at 250 MHz.

The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.

Claims (41)

1. A method of compensating cross-talk in a connector arrangement which includes a plug and a circuit board, comprising:

forward compensating unbalanced capacitance in the plug; and

reverse compensating unbalanced capacitance and inductance caused by the forward compensation.

2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the forward compensating includes forming a capacitor by using additional parallel conductive lines on the circuit board, and the reverse compensating includes forming a capacitor by using additional parallel lines on the circuit board.

3. A connector arrangement for compensating cross-talk, comprising:

a circuit board with front and rear terminals;

a plurality of pairs of conductors disposed on the circuit board, the pairs of conductors connecting to respective front and rear terminals, each pair of conductors including a ring conductor and a tip conductor, and the ring and tip conductors being substantially disposed in parallel;

a forward-compensating capacitance for compensating unbalanced capacitance, proximate the front terminals; and

a reverse-compensating capacitance for compensating unbalanced capacitance and inductance caused by the forward-compensating capacitance, proximate the rear terminals.

4. The connector arrangement ofclaim 3, wherein the forward-compensating capacitance is formed by using additional parallel conductors on the circuit board, and the reverse-compensating capacitance is formed by using additional parallel conductors on the circuit board.

5. The connector arrangement ofclaim 3, wherein the front terminals include contact springs.

6. The connector arrangement ofclaim 3, wherein the rear terminals include insulation displacement connectors.

7. The connector arrangement ofclaim 3, further comprising a housing holding the circuit board, the housing defining a plug port for receipt of a plug of a telecommunications cable.

8. The connector arrangement ofclaim 3, wherein the plurality of pairs of conductors are disposed on one side of the circuit board.

9. A method of compensating cross-talk in a connector arrangement which includes a plug and a multi-layered circuit board with first and second sets of terminals, comprising:

forward compensating unbalanced capacitance in the plug; and

reverse compensating unbalanced capacitance and inductance caused by the forward compensation;

wherein the connector arrangement includes:

i)a first and a second pair of conductors, each of the pairs including a ring conductor and a tip conductor, wherein each conductor includes at least a contact spring portion and a circuit board trace portion, wherein each of the circuit board trace portions of the conductors interconnects respective terminals from the first and second sets of terminals, and wherein the circuit board trace portions of at least one pair include at least a signal pathway portion, the signal pathway portions being formed on a single layer of the multi-layered circuit board and electrically connecting respective terminals of said first and second sets of terminals;

ii)first and second capacitors, wherein the first capacitor is formed between a first conductor of the first conductor pair and a second conductor of the second pair, and wherein the second capacitor is formed between a second conductor of the first pair and a first conductor of the second pair; and

iii)a third capacitor formed between the first conductor of the first pair and the first conductor of the second pair.

10. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising a fourth capacitor formed between the second conductor of the first pair and the second conductor of the second pair.

11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the third and fourth capacitors are formed on the circuit board.

12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the first and second capacitors are formed on the circuit board and are electrically located closer to the first set of terminals than the third and fourth capacitors, and wherein the third and fourth capacitors are electrically located closer to the second set of terminals than the first and second capacitors.

13. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the connector arrangement includes insulation displacement connectors connected to the second set of terminals.

14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein the second set of terminals is arranged in two groups along opposite edges of the circuit board.

15. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the terminals from at least one of the groups are unevenly spaced.

16. The method ofclaim 9, wherein at least one of the first, second, and third capacitors is formed on the circuit and is formed on the same layer as the circuit board trace portions of at least one pair of conductors.

17. The method ofclaim 10, wherein at least one of the first, second, third, and fourth capacitors is formed on the circuit board and is formed on the same layer as the circuit board trace portions of at least one pair of conductors.

18. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the at least one of the first, second, third and fourth capacitors is formed by using additional parallel conductive traces on the circuit board.

19. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the multi-layered circuit board has four layers.

20. A method of compensating cross-talk in a connector arrangement which includes a plug and a multi-layered circuit board with first and second sets of terminals, comprising:

forward compensating unbalanced capacitance in the plug; and

reverse compensating unbalanced capacitance and inductance caused by the forward compensation;

wherein the connector arrangement includes:

i)a first and a second pair of conductors, each of the pairs including a ring conductor and a tip conductor, wherein each conductor includes at least a contact spring portion and a circuit board trace portion, wherein each of the circuit board trace portions of the conductors interconnects respective terminals from the first and second sets of terminals, and wherein the circuit board trace portions of at least one pair include at least a signal pathway portion, the signal pathway portions being formed on a single layer of the multi-layered circuit board and electrically connecting respective terminals of said first and second sets of terminals;

ii)first and second capacitors, wherein the first capacitor is electrically connected to a first conductor of the first conductor pair and to a second conductor of the second pair, and wherein the second capacitor is electrically connected to a second conductor of the first pair and to a first conductor of the second pair; and

iii)a third capacitor electrically connected to the first conductor of the first pair and to the first conductor of the second pair.

21. The method ofclaim 20, further comprising a fourth capacitor electrically connected to the second conductor of the first pair and to the second conductor of the second pair.

22. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the third and fourth capacitors are formed on the circuit board.

23. The method ofclaim 22, wherein the first and second capacitors are formed on the circuit board and are electrically located closer to the first set of terminals than the third and fourth capacitors, and wherein the third and fourth capacitors are electrically located closer to the second set of terminals than the first and second capacitors.

24. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the connector arrangement includes insulation displacement connectors connected to the second set of terminals.

25. The method ofclaim 24, wherein the second set of terminals is arranged in two groups along opposite edges of the circuit board.

26. The method ofclaim 25, wherein the terminals from at least one of the groups are unevenly spaced.

27. The method ofclaim 20, wherein at least one of the first, second, and third capacitors is formed on the circuit board and is formed on the same layer as the circuit board trace portions of at least one pair of conductors.

28. The method ofclaim 21, wherein at least one of the first, second, third, and fourth capacitors is formed on the circuit board and is formed on the same layer as the circuit board trace portions of at least one pair of conductors.

29. The method ofclaim 28, wherein the at least one of the first, second, third and fourth capacitors is formed by using additional parallel conductive traces on the circuit board.

30. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the multi-layered circuit board has four layers.

31. A method of compensating cross-talk in a connector arrangement which includes a plug and a multi-layered circuit board with first and second sets of terminals, comprising:

forward compensating unbalanced capacitance in the plug; and

reverse compensating unbalanced capacitance and inductance caused by the forward compensation;

wherein the connector arrangement includes:

i)a first and a second pair of conductors, each of the pairs including a ring conductor and a tip conductor, wherein each conductor includes at least a contact spring portion and a circuit board trace portion, wherein each of the circuit board trace portions of the conductors forms a signal pathway between a terminal from the first set and a terminal from the second set, wherein the signal pathway for at least one of the conductors from the first pair is positioned on a single layer of the multi-layered circuit board, and wherein the signal pathway for at least one of the conductors from the second pair is positioned on a single layer of the multi-layered circuit board;

ii)first and second capacitors, wherein the first capacitor is electrically connected to a first conductor of the first conductor pair and to a second conductor of the second pair, and wherein the second capacitor is electrically connected to a second conductor of the first pair and to a first conductor of the second pair; and

iii)a third capacitor electrically connected to the first conductor of the first pair and to the first conductor of the second pair.

32. The method ofclaim 31, further comprising a fourth capacitor electrically connected to the second conductor of the first pair and the second conductor of the second pair.

33. The method ofclaim 32, wherein the third and fourth capacitors are formed on the circuit board.

34. The method ofclaim 33, wherein the first and second capacitors are formed on the circuit board and are electrically located closer to the first set of terminals than the third and fourth capacitors, and wherein the third and fourth capacitors are electrically located closer to the second set of terminals than the first and second capacitors.

35. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the connector arrangement includes insulation displacement connectors connected to the second set of terminals.

36. The method ofclaim 35, wherein the second set of terminals is arranged in two groups along opposite edges of the circuit board.

37. The method ofclaim 36, wherein the terminals from at least one of the groups are unevenly spaced.

38. The method ofclaim 31, wherein at least one of the first, second, and third capacitors is formed on the circuit and is formed on the same layer as the circuit board trace portions of at least one pair of conductors.

39. The method ofclaim 32, wherein at least one of the first, second, third, and fourth capacitors is formed on the circuit board and is formed on the same layer as the circuit board trace portions of at least one pair of conductors.

40. The method ofclaim 38, wherein the at least one of the first, second, third and fourth capacitors is formed by using additional parallel conductive traces on the circuit board.

41. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the multi-layered circuit board has four layers.

Images