from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
bit rate
<communications, digital signal processing> (Or "bitrate") A
{data rate} expressed in bits per second. This is a similar
to {baud} but the latter is more applicable to channels with
more than two states.
The common units of bit rate are {kilobits per second} (Kbps)
and {megabits per second} (Mbps). In data rates, the
multipliers "k", "M", etc. stand for powers of 1000 not powers
of 1024.
The term is also commonly used when discussing digital
{sampling} and {sample rates}. For example, the {MP3} audio
{compaction} algorithm is often set to ouput files with a
bitrate of 120 kbps. This means that the file contains an
average of 120 kilobits for each second of audio (900 KB per
minute). This compares with {CD audio} which is encoded at
44100 16-bit stereo samples per second or 1408 kbps.
(2003-05-19)