kibibit

A kibibit is a unit of information equal to 2^10 bits, or 1024 bits. It is part of the binary prefixes used to express data quantities in powers of two. The prefix kibi- denotes 2^10, and when combined with the unit bit yields the kibibit.

One kibibit equals 128 bytes.

In contrast, a kilobit (kb) denotes 1000 bits. The related binary byte unit is the kibibyte (KiB), which equals 1024 bytes. Data rates can be expressed in kibits per second (Kibit/s), where 1 Kibit/s equals 1024 bits per second.

Usage of the kibibit is primarily in technical writing and some networking specifications. It is less common in everyday consumer contexts, where kilobits or megabits per second are more frequently used. The binary prefixes, including kibi-, were established to reduce ambiguity between powers of two and powers of ten in data sizes and transmission speeds.