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pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
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Definition of a Byte - 5/10/2002 0:23:54
Here is the definition of a byte as quoted from dictionary.com...quote:
byte
n : a sequence of 8 bits (enough to represent one character of alphanumeric data) processed as a single unit of information.
Byte
1 Byte = Single Character
Kilobyte
1,024 Bytes
Megabyte
1,000,000 Bytes
Gigabyte
1,000,000,000 Bytes - 1,000 Megabytes
Terabyte
1,000,000,000,000 Bytes - 1 Million Megabytes
Petabyte
1x10/15 - One times ten to the fifteenth power Bytes - 1 Trillion Megabytes
Exabyte
1x10/18 - One times ten to the eighteenth power Bytes - 1 Billion Gigabytes
5 Exabytes = All words ever spoken by humans.
Zettabytes and Yottabytes are the next orders of data powers of ten.
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Edited by - pageoneresults on 05/10/2002 00:27:01
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pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 5/10/2002 0:37:37
Interesting statistics from January 2002...
The number of host computers connected to the Internet topped 137 million, up 40% over the 97 million recorded in December 2000.
Traffic on the U.S. portion of the Internet's backbone surpassed 55 petabytes per month, more than double the 23 petabytes recorded in January 2001. (One petabyte equals 20 million four-drawer filing cabinets full of text.)
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imouthere
Posts: 401
Joined: 1/23/2002
From: Greenville NC USA
Status: offline
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 5/10/2002 9:07:15
Isn't there such thing as a bit or a nibble too?
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VBMedia
Posts: 27
Joined: 5/8/2002
From: United Kingdom
Status: offline
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 5/10/2002 14:14:20
quote:
Isn't there such thing as a bit or a nibble too?
Whenever I ask my partner for a bit or a nibble, I'm told there isn't any!
M. Young
[url]www.vbmedia.co.uk[/url]
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Doug G
Posts: 1189
Joined: 12/29/2001
From: SoCal
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 5/12/2002 14:14:24
Yes, a bit is the atomic unit of information, and a nibble is two bits.
In addition, there are conflicting interpretations of the values of kilobyte, megabyte, etc.
Scientific types will look at a kilobyte as 1000 bytes, not 1024 bytes. However, in the digital world, 1024 = 2**10 and was "close enough" to a kilo (1000) that the term kilobyte became accepted as 1024 when relating to digital numbers. However, a kilometer remains 1000 meters, not 1024 meters.
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Doug G
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Charles W Davis
Posts: 1725
Joined: 3/7/2002
From: Henderson Nevada USA
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 5/19/2002 0:18:28
Ed,
When programming in the early 1960s, the programmer had to conserve use of RAM when many time only 4K was available. The use of "masks" allowed the programmer to set individual bits in a byte and later test them for the on or off condition.
The binary representation of a single byte may be: 11111111 The Hexadecimal equal is "FF" The decimal equal is 255.
It requires three bytes in todays computers to represent one color: 000000000000000011111111 or on the web: bgcolor="#0000FF" or blue
Three bytes or 24 bits was the original architecture for DOS based PCs. The kernel in Windows operating systems was restriced to this 24 bit architecture up through Windows ME. All running programs had a portion of their startup code running the that kernel. When one or more didn't do a good job of cleaning up the kernel when closed, you quickly ran out of "Memory." The message was wasn't necessarily erroneous in that your were really only out of the memory that the 24 bit architecture could use. It was true before 36 bit architecture came along that allowed a greater addressing range. This is a major cause of these systems locking up!
Windows NT, 2000 and XP only use the 36 bit architecture and are not suseptable to these problems and thereby are much more reliable.
With the lower cost of RAM and higher speed processors these days, programmers aren't the least bit concerned with writing tight and efficient code. They really don't need to be.
How did I get started on this?
Enjoy! It's your endeavor!
Chuck, http://www.anthemwebs.com
http://www.moderncabinetmaking.com
Edited by - Charles W Davis on 05/19/2002 00:19:18
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danielisa
Posts: 44
From: wichita, ks usa
Status: offline
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 5/27/2002 15:08:04
does anyone know if there is a bit-to-byte convertor on the internet? you know, type in the bytes, hit submit, and it converts it to bits or vice versa?
just wondering
dan
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Doug G
Posts: 1189
Joined: 12/29/2001
From: SoCal
Status: offline
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 5/29/2002 16:26:51
Who needs the web? If you put your calculator program (included with Windows) in scientific mode, you can convert between hex, decimal, octal, and binary.
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Doug G
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Yzywyz
Posts: 132
Joined: 6/27/2002
From: Louisville, Kentucky (USA)
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 7/4/2002 21:28:03
Everyone probably knows this but there is some question about the status of the bit, so correct me if this is wrong.
8 bits are a byte.
(8 bits is also a dollar, and two bits is a familiar quarter)
baud is bits per second. So 56 kilobaud is 56 x 1024 bits per second. or about 7 kilobytes per second. Except that you don' t get more than 53 kilobaud for buying a 56 kilobaud modem.
We accept THAT ripoff because the manufacturers say it is the FCC' s fault -- and we all know no one can fight the FCC, which limits the power that can be used in a standard phone line and therefore the baud rate available on that line.
< Message edited by Yzywyz -- 7/3/2002 9:28:19 PM >
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I just run the frikkin' maze.
James
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Lydecker
Posts: 609
From: Oxshott, Surrey, England (UK)
Status: offline
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 7/6/2002 12:05:42
quote:
Yes, a bit is the atomic unit of information, and a nibble is two bits.
Doug, A Nibble is acually half a byte (i.e 4 bits), not 2 bits. The termanoligy nibble only exists in the USA though.
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Doug G
Posts: 1189
Joined: 12/29/2001
From: SoCal
Status: offline
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RE: Definition of a Byte - 7/6/2002 15:44:33
quote:
Doug, A Nibble is acually half a byte (i.e 4 bits), not 2 bits. The termanoligy nibble only exists in the USA though.
Correct. Thanks for pointing out my error :)
My memory is fading fast, but it seems to me in the prehistoric computing days (when octal was king) nibbles were defined as 2 bits. I can' t find any documentation to back this up, but plenty of 4-bit nibbles are defined.
Can I try a different one? Baud is not bps, although you' ll find places that say it is. Baud is a measurement of signaling interval named after a gentleman named Baudot who came up with the term measuring the speed of telegraphers in the 1800' s. The confusion between baud and bps arises when you are using serial communication based on rs232. A 9600 baud modem, for example, is capable of 9600 signal transitions per second. However, the data throughput is not 9600 bps of data, there is a start bit and 1, 1-1/2 or 2 stop bits per data byte of usable data. At best, the data throughput of a 9600 baud modem is 960 bytes/sec, or 7,680 bits/sec of usable digital data.
For the true purist, a 9600 baud modem really communicates at 1200 baud with 8 bits packed per baud with quadrature phase modulation. Perhaps I shouldn' t venture there :)
There is no rip-off regarding 56k modems. There are restrictions (for good reason) on what kind of signals can be pumped over the Public Telephone system in the US, and these restrictions prevent the maximum theoretical speed of the 56k v.90 modem to about 53k. It' s not an arbitrary decision by the FCC, the restrictions are there to make sure the telephone switching systems are reliable. It' s possible the specifications could be changed in the future to allow the full 56kbaud speed, but that' s not a step to be taken without extensive testing of all existing switching equipment.
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Doug G
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