The concept of gigahertz is formed by the union of the compositional element giga (which refers to "one billion times" ) and the term hertz (a unit of frequency equivalent to one cycle per second). A gigahertz, therefore, is a multiple of this unit of frequency measurement .
Also called gigahertz (since hertz and hertz are synonyms), the gigahertz is equivalent to one billion (1,000,000,000) hertz . Taking into account that a hertz refers to a cycle , it can be said that a gigahertz refers to an oscillation period of one nanosecond .
To understand this idea, we must know that the period of oscillation is the time that elapses between two points on a wave that are equivalent. A nanosecond, on the other hand, is one billionth of a second.
As a unit of frequency , the gigahertz was postulated in 1930 by a committee of the International Electronic Commission . Five years later, it was incorporated into the Technical System of Units .
The gigahertz, whose symbol is GHz , is used with respect to radio waves . When a wave of this type has a frequency close to gigahertz, it is called a microwave . It is estimated that a one gigahertz microwave has a wavelength of about thirty centimeters.
The microwave bands used by Wi-Fi technology, for example, are 2.4 or 5 gigahertz . The GPS ( Global Positioning System or, in our language, Global Positioning System ), for its part, uses the 1.3 gigahertz band.
In the field of computing , gigahertz refers to the speed of the central processing unit ( CPU ) of a computer.
Sometimes, there are those who, when buying a laptop or desktop computer, choose to know the gigahertz that that device has to determine if it has a power that adapts to what they are looking for. However, it is important to keep in mind that making this relationship is not correct because just because a computer has more gigahertz does not mean that it is more powerful. What the gigahertz determines is the number of times the processor is able to activate per second.
Therefore, to choose a device with great power, you must take into account factors such as the efficiency of the software, the number of processors it has or their size.
In the same way, we cannot ignore that "Gigahertz" is the name of a digital publication, headed by Joan Carles López Sancho, who is strongly committed to reducing and ending electromagnetic pollution. And it establishes that the waves from countless devices (Wi-Fi, tablet, smart TV, telephone antennas, Wifi speakers, video game consoles...) affect human beings daily and this has, both in the medium and long term, health consequences.
Likewise, it must be emphasized that Gigahertz is the name of a European company that has specialized in high and low intensity electromagnetic field meters. These devices basically achieve is to know the degree of electromagnetic pollution that exists in a place.