Editing Base station (section)

{{Short description|Type of radio station}}
[[File:CB Base Station.jpg|thumb|250px|A 1980s consumer-grade [[citizens' band radio]] (CB) base station]]

'''Base station''' (or '''base radio station''', BS) is – according to the [[International Telecommunication Union]]'s (ITU) [[ITU Radio Regulations|Radio Regulations]] (RR)<ref>ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems – Article 1.71, definition: "base station / base radio station"</ref> – a "[[land station]] in the [[land mobile service]]."

A base station is called ''[[node B]]'' in [[3G]], ''[[EnodeB|eNB]]'' in [[3GPP Long Term Evolution|LTE]] ([[4G]]), and ''[[GNodeB|gNB]]'' in [[5G]].

The term is used in the context of [[mobile telephony]], [[wireless computer networking]] and other [[wireless communications]] and in [[land surveying]]. In surveying, it is a [[GPS receiver]] at a known position, while in wireless communications it is a [[transceiver]] connecting a number of other devices to one another and/or to a wider area.
In mobile telephony, it provides the connection between [[mobile phone]]s and the wider [[telephone network]]. In a [[computer network]], it is a transceiver acting as a [[switch (computing)|switch]] for [[computer]]s in the network, possibly connecting them to a/another [[local area network]] and/or the [[Internet]]. In traditional wireless communications, it can refer to the hub of a [[dispatch (logistics)|dispatch]] fleet such as a [[taxi]] or [[delivery (commerce)|delivery]] fleet, the base of a [[TETRA]] network as used by [[government]] and [[emergency services]] or a [[Citizen’s band radio|CB]] [[radio shack|shack]].