kbit

Kilobit, abbreviated kbit, is a unit of information equal to 1,000 bits, following the SI prefix kilo-. It is commonly used to express data quantities and, especially, data transfer rates such as kilobits per second (kbit/s or kbps).

In some computing contexts, kilobits have historically been treated as 1,024 bits, reflecting powers of two. This usage is imprecise and can cause ambiguity. To address this, the binary prefix kibi- (symbol Ki) designates 2^10 bits, with the corresponding unit called the kibibit (1 Kibit = 1,024 bits). When precision is important, kibibit is preferred for binary representations to avoid mixing with decimal kilobits.

Conversions and practical implications: 1 kbit equals 125 bytes (since 1 byte = 8 bits). Accordingly, 1 Kibit equals 128 bytes. For data rates, 1 kbit/s equals 1,000 bits per second, while 1 Kibit/s equals 1,024 bits per second. In common networking contexts, speeds are usually stated in kilobits per second (kbps).

Usage and context: Kilobits are widely used in describing network bandwidth and communication speeds. For data storage or memory sizing, kilobits are less convenient than bytes or larger units (kilobytes, megabytes). The choice between decimal kilobits and binary kibibits hinges on the need for decimal precision versus binary alignment.

See also: kilobits per second, kibibit, byte, byte per second.