Gigabit (Gb) - Unit Information & Conversion
What is a Gigabit?
Definition
A gigabit (Gb) is a unit of digital information equal to 109 bits, or 1,000,000,000 bits. It uses the standard SI decimal prefix 'giga-'. It is commonly used to measure data transfer rates.
History
The prefix 'giga-' originates from the Greek word "gigas," meaning "giant," and was adopted as an SI prefix in 1960 to denote a factor of 109 (one billion). In computing and telecommunications, the gigabit became prominent with the rise of high-speed networking technologies like Gigabit Ethernet in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While 'giga-' strictly means 109, its usage sometimes caused confusion with binary multiples (230), leading to the creation of the IEC binary prefix 'gibi-' (Gib).
Common Uses
- Measuring data transfer rates, especially network speeds (e.g., Gigabit Ethernet at 1 Gbps, internet connection speeds).
- Specifying the bandwidth of communication channels.
- Sometimes used in the context of memory chip density or storage capacity, although Gigabyte (GB) is far more common for storage.
- Calculating download/upload times based on file size (in GB or GiB) and network speed (in Gbps).
Unit FAQs
How many bits are in a gigabit?
There are exactly 1,000,000,000 (one billion or 109) bits in 1 gigabit (Gb).
What is the difference between a gigabit (Gb) and a gigabyte (GB)?
A gigabit (Gb) measures data in bits, while a gigabyte (GB) measures data in bytes. Assuming the standard 1 byte = 8 bits, 1 gigabyte (GB) is equal to 8 gigabits (Gb). Network speeds are usually in Gbps (gigabits per second), while file sizes are usually in GB (gigabytes).
What is the difference between a gigabit (Gb) and a gibibit (Gib)?
A gigabit (Gb) uses the decimal prefix 'giga-' and equals 109 (1,000,000,000) bits. A gibibit (Gib) uses the binary prefix 'gibi-' and equals 230 (1,073,741,824) bits. A gibibit is approximately 7.37% larger than a gigabit.
Is Gbps the same as GBps?
No. Gbps stands for gigabits per second, while GBps stands for gigabytes per second. Since 1 byte = 8 bits, a transfer rate of 1 GBps is eight times faster than a transfer rate of 1 Gbps. Network speeds are almost always advertised in Gbps.
Gigabit Conversion Formulas
To Bit:
To Byte:
To Kilobit:
To Kilobyte:
To Megabit:
To Megabyte:
To Gigabyte:
To Terabit:
To Terabyte:
To Petabit:
To Petabyte:
To Exabit:
To Exabyte:
To Kibibit:
To Kibibyte:
To Mebibit:
To Mebibyte:
To Gibibit:
To Gibibyte:
To Tebibit:
To Tebibyte:
To Pebibit:
To Pebibyte:
To Exbibit:
To Exbibyte:
Convert Gigabit
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