# Baud Rate Calculator

Created by Komal Rafay
Reviewed by Rijk de Wet
Last updated: Jun 09, 2022
Table of contents:

The baud rate calculator is an effective tool, here to assist you in understanding all about baud and what baud rate is. You will soon understand its significance in data transmission and no longer have to wonder how to calculate the baud rate.

We will also share some common baud rates to compare with transmission speed. As a plus, we'll also discuss:

• Baud rate from ASK bandwidth; and
• Baud rate from FSK bandwidth.

You may also use our tool as a baud rate to frequency calculator.

## What is baud rate?

The definition of baud rate is the number of signal units per second. It determines the data/signal transmission rate.

Baud rate measures the transmission performance of the data or information in a communication channel. We use this term for electronics that employ serial communication. For example, a baud rate of 9,600 means the respective serial port can transfer data of up to 9,600 bauds (symbols or units of information) each second.

Note that the transmitting and receiving ends of the communication channel should match the baud rate to work correctly. The travel distance and the transference medium can affect the baud rate.

## Baud rate calculator

Our baud rate calculator is a one-stop tool that helps you calculate the baud rate using different formulas. The tool has four different options to choose from.

The first option is the simple ratio that determines the baud rate from the total number of bits and bits per second or the bit rate. For the first option:

1. Input the bits per second;
2. Input the number of bits per baud; and
3. The result is the baud rate as bauds per second.

The second option uses the bandwidth of ASK. Here, ASK stands for amplitude shift keying, a type of amplitude modulation representing binary data as deviations of the signal's amplitude. The base for this method is the formula that determines the bandwidth of ASK. For the second option:

1. Input the bandwidth of ASK in bits per second;
2. Input the modulation factor;
3. The result is the baud rate as bauds per second.

The third option uses the base formula of the bandwidth of FSK. FSK stands for frequency-shift keying, which is a method for transferring a digital signal at distinct frequency changes. For this method you can:

1. Input the bandwidth of the FSK signal;
2. Input the modulation factor;
3. Frequency difference; and
4. The result is the baud rate in terms of bauds per second.

The fourth option is a simple conversion that converts baud to the frequency. You may enter the baud rate or the frequency of a signal, and as a result, we will have the other calculated.

## Baud rate formula

As mentioned earlier, the baud rate calculator offers four different options. The unit of baud rate is bauds per second, but sometimes it is measured in hertz. Let's discuss the various formulae of baud rate below:

### Baud rate from bits

If you have the number of bits per baud and bit rate, you may determine the bit rate ratio to the number of bits. The formula is:

$\small \text{Baud rate}= \frac {\text{Bit rate}}{\text{\# of bits per baud}}$

For example, ASCII characters are encoded as eight bits. If you are transmitting ASCII characters, then one character is one baud and so one baud is eight bits. This would mean that if your bit rate is $80\text{ bits}/\text{s}$, then you can transmit $80/8 = 10\text{ bauds}$ (ASCII characters) per second and your baud rate is $10\ \text{bauds/s}$.

### Baud rate from ASK bandwidth

The base for this formula is the bandwidth of the ASK formula. You may use it when you have the value for the amplitude shift keying bandwidth $B_\text{ASK}$ and modulation factor $\text{mf}$. The baud rate is then calculated based on these two values. The formula after shuffling for baud rate is:

$\small \text{Baud rate}= \frac {B_\text{ASK}}{1+\text{mf}}$

### Baud rate from FSK bandwidth

The base for this formula is the calculation of the bandwidth of FSK signals. You may use this formula when you have the value of frequency shift keying bandwidth $B_\text{FSK}$, the modulation factor $\text{mf}$, and the change in frequency $\Delta F$. The formula after shuffling for baud rate is:

$\small \text{Baud rate} = \frac {B_\text{FSK} - (2 \times \Delta F)} {1+\text{mf}}$

### Baud rate to frequency

The baud rate to frequency is a straightforward conversion: one baud is equal to one hertz. The formula is therefore:

$\small \text{Baud rate}= f$

## How to calculate baud rate?

In a digital system, one baud is equal to one bit per second, but this is a generalization and is not implementable in every aspect.

We therefore look at an example to calculate the baud rate of an imaginary transmission system. Let's consider a system with a bit rate of $4,\!500\text{ bits/s}$, and each unit carries $9\text{ bits}$. What is the baud rate of this system?

Now, if you observe, we have the bit rate as bits/second and the number of bits in a baud. This means we can use the formula:

\small \begin{aligned} \text{Baud rate } &= \frac{\text{Bit rate}}{\text{\# of bits}} \\[1em] &= \frac{4,\!500\ \text{bits}/\text{s}}{9\ \text{bits}} \\[1em] &= 500 \text{ bauds/s} \\ \end{aligned}

💡 All this talk about signals and transmission means you might also want to take a look at our signal to noise ratio calculator, which helps you determine the ratio of desired signal to the background acceptable noise.

## Common baud rates

We have compiled the values of some common baud rates in a table. The table shows bauds, bits per second, and the transmission speed based on the baud and bits per second.

Bauds

Bits/s

Transmission speed [bytes/s]

50

50

6.25

150

150

18.75

1,200

1,200

150

9,600

9,600

1,200

38,400

38,400

4,800

115,200

115,200

14,400

921,600

921,600

155,200

## FAQ

### What is baud rate?

Baud rate measures the symbol rate, which means the number of symbols, waveforms, or signals per unit of time.

Baud rate holds significance in telecommunication and electronics, as it determines the required bandwidth to send a signal in data transmission.

The main formula to calculate the baud rate is:
Baud rate = Bit rate / Number of bits in a baud

### What baud rate should I use?

The baud rate depends on how fast you want to send the data. But if speed isn't critical to you, then the most commonly used baud rate is 9,600 bauds per second. The most important thing you need to remember is both devices, the device sending the data and the device receiving the data, should operate at the same baud rate.

### How can I calculate baud rate from frequency?

Frequency to baud rate has to be one of the simplest conversions, because 1 baud = 1 hertz. This makes the conversion formula:

Baud = frequency

The steps for the calculations are:

1. Note down the frequency.
2. Multiply the frequency by 1 — so do nothing.
3. The result is the baud rate.

Surely, this has to be the easiest calculation ever.

### What is the baud rate of 1200 bits per second?

The baud rate is 150 bauds/s if the bit rate is 1,200 bps and the number of bits is 8.
The formula to calculate the baud rate from the bit rate is:

Baud rate = Bit rate / Number of bits in a baud

So, you divide the bit rate, which means the number of bits per second, by the total number of bits in a baud, and the result is the baud rate in bauds per second.

Komal Rafay
Calculate baud rate by
Simple ratio
Bits per second
bits/s
Number of bits per baud
Baud rate
bauds/s
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