A bit rate estimation apparatus used for estimation of a bit rate, BR, of a digital signal, DS, the bit rate estimation apparatus comprising a data processing unit adapted to determine a regularized cepstrum, CEP, of the digital signal; a peak identification unit adapted to identify a significant peak within the regularized cepstrum, CEP, determined by the data processing unit; and a bit rate determination unit adapted to determine the bit rate of the digital signal, DS, based on the significant peak identified by the peak identification unit.