Kilobit
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| SI prefixes | Binary prefixes | |||
| Name (Symbol) |
Standard SI |
Rare usage |
Name (Symbol) |
Value |
| kilobit (kb) | 103 | 210 | kibibit (Kibit) | 210 |
| megabit (Mb) | 106 | 220 | mebibit (Mibit) | 220 |
| gigabit (Gb) | 109 | 230 | gibibit (Gibit) | 230 |
| terabit (Tb) | 1012 | 240 | tebibit (Tibit) | 240 |
| petabit (Pb) | 1015 | 250 | pebibit (Pibit) | 250 |
| exabit (Eb) | 1018 | 260 | exbibit (Eibit) | 260 |
| zettabit (Zb) | 1021 | 270 | zebibit (Zibit) | 270 |
| yottabit (Yb) | 1024 | 280 | yobibit (Yibit) | 280 |
A kilobit is a unit of information, abbreviated kbit, sometimes also kb.
The standard definition is 1 kilobit = 103 bit = 1,000 bit. In the context of storage-memory and address-space sizes, the alternative binary definition of 210 = 1,024 bit is occasionally used (see Binary prefix), although this usage is ambiguous.
Kilobits are commonly used to express digital communication speeds, e.g. a 56 kbit/s PSTN or 512 kbit/s broadband Internet connection. In the context of telecommunication transmission speeds, the decimal definition 1 kbit = 1,000 bit is used uniformly.
The kilobit is closely related to the kibibit, which is unambiguously equal to 210 = 1,024 bit.
Kilobit (abbreviated to kb with a lower case b) is not to be confused with the term kilobyte (abbreviated to kB with an upper case b).
