As the operating speed of electronic components increases and as the size of the components decreases, it becomes increasingly difficult to design and manufacture electrical connectors that do not restrict system performance, and are not prohibitively expensive. This is particularly true in computer system applications wherein coaxial cables are used for high speed data transmission.
In such applications, the size of the electrical connector is critically important as computer manufacturers and users strive for smaller machines. Of equal importance for very high speed computers is the performance of the electrical connectors. A coaxial cable has a relatively uniform, predetermined impedance throughout its length and it is desirable that any electrical connections maintain and match this impedance in order to minimize the degradation of signals propagating through the system.
Electrical connectors of the prior art were deficient in one or more of these areas in that they were generally large and expensive, or lacking in electrical performance. Typically, if a system designer needed high electrical performance he/she had to resort to using connectors which have been designed solely for use in the communication industry. These connectors, while performing well, often occupy as much as 0.5 square inches of printed wiring board per signal terminal. In addition, the cost of these connectors is on the order of 100 times the cost, per line, of the connectors usually found in computer systems. However, this has generally been the only option because the connectors generally in use in computer systems are deficient in electrical performance in that they limit total system performance to an unacceptably low level.