Difference between Bit Rate and Baud Rate


In telecommunication and electronics engineering, Bit Rate and Baud Rate are two commonly used terms in the context of data communication. Both these terms represent the speed of data transmission in the computer networks. The basic difference between Bit Rate and Baud Rate is that the Bit Rate is defined as the number of bits (binary 0s and 1s) transmitted over a network in unit time, whereas Baud Rate is defined as the number of signal units transmitted over a network in unit time.

Thus, bit rate and baud rate both the related terms, and the relationship between these terms is given by,

Bit Rate = Baud Rate × Number of Bits per Baud

In practice, Bit rate is more important when we are concerned about the efficiency of a computer, while the baud rate is important in data transmission.

What is Bit Rate?

In telecommunications and computing, "bit rate" is the number of bits communicated or processed per unit of time. Bit rate is measured in bits per second (symbol: bit/s) and is commonly prefixed with a SI prefix like kilo, mega, Giga, or Tera.

The non-standard term "bps" is sometimes used instead of the conventional sign "bit/s". Therefore, 1 Mbps stands for one million bits per second. One byte per second (1 B/s) equates to 8 bits per second in most computer and digital communication contexts.

What is Baud Rate?

In telecommunications and electronics, a "baud" is a standard symbol rate measuring unit. It is one of the components that determine the speed of transmission across a data channel.

In pulses per second, symbols per second, it is the unit for symbol rate or modulation rate. In a digitally modulated signal or a "baud rate line code", it is the number of unique symbol changes (signaling events) made to the transmission medium per second.

The term "baud" refers to the gross bit rate, which is measured in bits per second. If the system has only two symbols (usually 0 and 1), baud and bit per second (bit/s) are interchangeable.

Difference between Bit Rate and Baud Rate

The following table highlights the major differences between Bit rate and Baud rate −

Factor Bit Rate Baud Rate
Definition Bit Rate is the number of bits sent per second. The number of signal units per second is known as the Baud Rate.
Calculation Bit Rate is calculated by multiplying the baud rate by the number of bits per baud. Baud Rate is calculated by multiplying the Bit Rate by the number of bits per baud.
Utilized Bit Rate is not utilized to determine the amount of bandwidth required for signal transmission. Baud Rate is used to determine the amount of bandwidth required for signal transmission.
Also defined as Bit Rate is sometimes defined as the number of bits that move per second. The number of changes in signal per second is also known as the Baud Rate.
Importance Computer efficiency was prioritized above bit rate. Baud Rate, on the other hand, is focused on data transfer.
Bandwidth for transmission Bit rate cannot be used to determine the requirements of bandwidth for data transmission. Baud rate is used to determine the requirements of bandwidth for data transmission.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, we can conclude that both Bit Rate and Baud rate are the terms related to the speed of data transmission. The most significant difference between these two terms is that the Bit Rate provides information about transmission of bits per unit time, while the Baud Rate gives information about transmission of the number of signal units per unit time.

Updated on: 24-Nov-2022

8K+ Views

Kickstart Your Career

Get certified by completing the course

Get Started
Advertisements