Let's stop at bytes per second [LWN.net]

Let's stop at bytes per second

Posted Jun 12, 2009 11:06 UTC (Fri) by khim (subscriber, #9252)
In reply to: Say what? by sbergman27
Parent article: Linux first to offer USB 3.0 driver (Linux Devices)

Just tell me how many Megabytes Per Second the damned interface is nominally supposed to transfer and I'll be as happy as a clam at high tide.

But how many bytes per megabyte? Some still think 1048576 (or may be 1024000 like on floppy disk?) is the right asnwer... The only sane unambigous measurement is byte per second...

to post comments

Let's stop at bytes per second

Posted Jun 12, 2009 13:51 UTC (Fri) by sbergman27 (guest, #10767) [Link] (2 responses)

Bytes per second is fine with me.

FWIW, to me the only place where it makes any sense at all to use kibibytes (an how I despise that term!) is for RAM. Durable storage like hard drives, CDs, DVDs, and even flash memory, really, should just use simple powers of 10. RAM is a special case.

By the by... does anyone happen to know what style of "megabits per second" are referenced by USB 2.0's 480 mbit/s spec?

Let's stop at bytes per second

Posted Jun 12, 2009 19:12 UTC (Fri) by admcd (subscriber, #5415) [Link]

Ah, but how many bits in a byte.

I'm not sure whether there are any current systems where a byte isn't 8 bits. However, some standards bodies use "octet" to avoid any possible ambiguity.

Let's stop at bytes per second

Posted Jun 12, 2009 20:37 UTC (Fri) by gilb (subscriber, #11728) [Link]

USB 2.0 is 480x10^6 bits/second. PHY people tend to think in powers of 10.