Bit rate
| Name | Symbol | Multiple | |
|---|---|---|---|
| bit/s | 1 | 1 | |
| Metric prefixes (SI) | |||
| kilobit per second | kbit/s | 103 | 10001 |
| megabit per second | Mbit/s | 106 | 10002 |
| gigabit per second | Gbit/s | 109 | 10003 |
| terabit per second | Tbit/s | 1012 | 10004 |
| Binary prefixes (IEC 80000-13) | |||
| kibibit per second | Kibit/s | 210 | 10241 |
| mebibit per second | Mibit/s | 220 | 10242 |
| gibibit per second | Gibit/s | 230 | 10243 |
| tebibit per second | Tibit/s | 240 | 10244 |
In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (bitrate or as a variable R) is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time.[1]
The bit rate is expressed in the unit bit per second (symbol: bit/s), often in conjunction with an SI prefix such as kilo (1 kbit/s = 1,000 bit/s), mega (1 Mbit/s = 1,000 kbit/s), giga (1 Gbit/s = 1,000 Mbit/s) or tera (1 Tbit/s = 1,000 Gbit/s).[2] The non-standard abbreviation bps is often used to replace the standard symbol bit/s, so that, for example, 1 Mbps is used to mean one million bits per second.
In most computing and digital communication environments, one byte per second (symbol: B/s) corresponds to 8 bit/s (1 byte = 8 bits). However if stop bits, start bits, and parity bits need to be factored in, a higher number of bits per second will be required to achieve a throughput of the same number of bytes.
- ^ Gupta, Prakash C (2006). Data Communications and Computer Networks. PHI Learning. ISBN 9788120328464. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- ^ International Electrotechnical Commission (2007). "Prefixes for binary multiples". Archived from the original on 25 September 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2014.