what is a nanosecond
A nanosecond (ns) is an SI unit of time equal to one billionth of a second (10 â9 or 1 / 1,000,000,000 s). One nanosecond is to one second as one second is to 31.71 years.The word nanosecond is formed by the prefix nano and the unit second. Its symbol is ns. 1.0 nanosecond â cycle time for radio frequency 1 GHz (1 Ã 10 hertz), an inverse unit. 2  This corresponds to a radio wavelength of 1 light-nanosecond or 0.3 m, as can be calculated by multiplying 1 ns by the speed of light (approximately 3 Ã 10 m/s) to determine the distance traveled.