Bit is a unit of measure for the amount of information. Claude Shannon proposed using the term bit in 1948 to mean a unit of information. Now we will discuss the history and content of this concept in more detail.
What is it
If we talk about how the word “bit” is translated, what this concept is, and what its sources are, it should be said that the English phrase binary digit, from which the term came from, comes from the English language and means a
binary number. In addition, there is a certain play on words. A bit is a piece or particle.
Given that one bit in binary code can take only two values that are mutually exclusive: yes / no, 1/0, we get another definition. Thus, a bit is such a quantity of information that makes it possible to unambiguously give an answer to the question posed by the system. In electronics, one binary bit corresponds to one binary trigger, which has two stable states.
Varieties
So, we can conclude that one bit is a unit equal to a single bit in a
binary system. There are 2 physical implementations of a single binary bit. A single-phase bit involves the use of a single binary trigger output, while a zero level can mean both a “0” signal and a possible circuit malfunction.
In turn, a high level is responsible for the signal "1" and the complete health of the circuit. The two-phase bit involves the use of both outputs of a binary trigger. In the case of a working circuit, one of the 2 levels is high, the second is low. It should be noted that a high level for both wires, as well as a low level for both wires indicate a circuit malfunction.
Data transfer
If we talk about computer technology, as well as networks for data transmission, there are usually zero and one values are transmitted using various levels of voltage or current. It should be noted that in the field of computer technology, especially when it comes to standards and documentation, the word “bit” is often used in the meaning of “binary digit”. Interestingly, the qubit (q-bit) became the analogue of a bit for quantum computers .
Byte
A set of data on a computer, consisting of 8 bits, is called a byte. It is 8 bits that are the basis for the representation of certain characters, for example, the letter "A". Also, this value allows you to work with binary arithmetic. In other words, a byte is a command of bits that is responsible for a single part in a specific file.
Moreover, each of the bytes has a unique address in the memory of a personal computer. Bits with bytes are numbered in the range 0–7 and are counted from right to left. For example, if you use the bit number 76543210, its value will be 01000001, and when you issue this information code to the printer, the familiar letter “A” will be generated.
We emphasize that the number of enabled bits on a single byte is odd. It should be noted that when a command accesses a byte, the personal computer checks it, and if the number of enabled bits is even, the system reports an error. As for the parity error, it can be caused by a hardware malfunction or be a random phenomenon, but this happens very rarely.
When processing data in a personal computer, numerous electrical pulses pass through electronic circuits. Such circuits consist of special conductors, as well as logic gates, the so-called electronic microdevices. In this case, the pulses that pass through the valves are able to "damp". Thanks to this, data is processed. In conclusion, let us recall once again that a bit is, first of all, a tiny unit of information, which we learned a little more about.