Communications plugs are provided which include a printed circuit board having a plurality of elongated conductive traces and a plurality of plug blades. Each plug blade has a first section that extends along a top surface of the printed circuit board and a second section that extends along a front edge of the printed circuit board. Additionally, each plug blade may have a thickness that is at least twice the thickness of the elongated conductive traces. The plug blades may be low profile plug blades that are manufactured separately from the printed circuit board.

Patch cords include a cable having eight conductors that are twisted together to form four differential pairs of conductors and a plug that is attached to the cable. The plug includes a housing, a printed circuit board, and respective first through eighth plug contacts that are electrically connected to the respective first through eighth conductors via respective first through eighth conductive paths on the printed circuit board. The plug contacts are arranged in a row in numerical order. The plug includes a wire guide that has a top shelf that extends above the printed circuit board and a bottom shelf that extends below the printed circuit board. Two of the differential pairs are routed into respective first and second channels in the top shelf and the other two of the differential pairs are routed into respective third and fourth channels in the bottom shelf.

Patch cords include a cable having eight conductors that are twisted together to form four differential pairs of conductors and a plug that is attached to the cable. The plug includes a housing, a printed circuit board, and respective first through eighth plug contacts that are electrically connected to the respective first through eighth conductors via respective first through eighth conductive paths on the printed circuit board. The plug contacts are arranged in a row in numerical order. The plug includes a wire guide that has a top shelf that extends above the printed circuit board and a bottom shelf that extends below the printed circuit board. Two of the differential pairs are routed into respective first and second channels in the top shelf and the other two of the differential pairs are routed into respective third and fourth channels in the bottom shelf.

Communications jacks include a housing having a plug aperture that is configured to receive a mating RJ-45 plug along a longitudinal axis and eight jackwire contacts that are arranged as four differential pairs of jackwire contacts, each of the jackwire contacts including a plug contact region that extends into the plug aperture. A first of the jackwire contacts is configured to engage a longitudinally extending surface of a first blade of a mating RJ-45 plug when the mating RJ-45 plug is fully received within the plug aperture.

Communications jacks include a housing having a plug aperture that is configured to receive a mating RJ-45 plug along a longitudinal axis and eight jackwire contacts that are arranged as four differential pairs of jackwire contacts, each of the jackwire contacts including a plug contact region that extends into the plug aperture. A first of the jackwire contacts is configured to engage a longitudinally extending surface of a first blade of a mating RJ-45 plug when the mating RJ-45 plug is fully received within the plug aperture.

Patch cords include a communications cable that has first through eighth conductors that are arranged as four twisted pairs and a plug attached thereto. The plug includes a housing that receives the cable, first through eighth plug contacts, and a printed circuit board that includes first through eighth conductive paths that connect the first through eighth conductors to the respective first through eighth plug contacts. The plug further includes a first crosstalk injection circuit between the second conductive path and the sixth conductive path and a second crosstalk injection circuit between the first conductive path and the sixth conductive path.

Patch cords include a communications cable that has first through eighth conductors that are arranged as four twisted pairs and a plug attached thereto. The plug includes a housing that receives the cable, first through eighth plug contacts, and a printed circuit board that includes first through eighth conductive paths that connect the first through eighth conductors to the respective first through eighth plug contacts. The plug further includes a first crosstalk injection circuit between the second conductive path and the sixth conductive path and a second crosstalk injection circuit between the first conductive path and the sixth conductive path.

A twisted pair communications device and associated twisted pair communications system are disclosed. One twisted pair communications device includes a plurality of twisted pair connectors each associated with a different twisted pair communication channel, and a multi-channel connector communicatively connected to each of the plurality of twisted pair connectors. The multi-channel connector is configured to transmit and receive communication signals associated with each of the twisted pair communication channels on a multi-channel twisted pair cable and includes a plurality of wire pairs disposed in a plurality of rows within the connector. Fewer than all of the plurality of wire pairs are communicatively connected to twisted pair connectors, and wherein unassociated wire pairs in the multi-channel connector separate at least two groups of wire pairs associated with different twisted pair communication channels.

A twisted pair communications device and associated twisted pair communications system are disclosed. One twisted pair communications device includes a plurality of twisted pair connectors each associated with a different twisted pair communication channel, and a multi-channel connector communicatively connected to each of the plurality of twisted pair connectors. The multi-channel connector is configured to transmit and receive communication signals associated with each of the twisted pair communication channels on a multi-channel twisted pair cable and includes a plurality of wire pairs disposed in a plurality of rows within the connector. Fewer than all of the plurality of wire pairs are communicatively connected to twisted pair connectors, and wherein unassociated wire pairs in the multi-channel connector separate at least two groups of wire pairs associated with different twisted pair communication channels.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to designs for network jacks which can be used for cable connectivity. In an embodiment, the present invention is an RJ45 jack that utilizes a thin dielectric film between two layers of PICs that provide crosstalk compensation by way of their geometry. Compensation is achieved by way of capacitor plates which sandwich a thin dielectric film. This allows for the layers of PICs to be in close proximity and achieve higher coupling where desired, allowing a greater amount of compensation to occur close to the plug/jack contact point. This can have the effect of moving compensation closer to the plug/jack contact point, which in turn may reduce the amount of compensation needed further along the data path.