Bits/s vs Baud vs Hertz
Data rate vs signal rate vs Bandwidth
Information is first coded using a “coding” scheme, and then the code (called “signal”) is mapped onto the available bandwidth (Hz) using a modulation scheme.
Signal rate (of the code) is the number of signal element (voltage) changes per second. This is measured in “baud.” The signal rate is also called “baud-rate”.
Each baud could encode a variable number of bits. So, the “bit rate” of the channel (measured in bits/sec) is the maximum number of bits that that be coded using the coding scheme and transmitted on the available available bandwidth.
- The bit-rate is a fundamental link parameter.