Bit rate

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.

The bit rate is expressed as bits per second (symbol: bit/s), often 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). The non-standard abbreviation bps is often used: 1 Mbps is 1 Mbit/s, that is, one million bits per second.

The bit rate is different from the transfer rate, measured in transfers per second, when the channel is parallel and thus transfers multiple bits per transfer.

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.