Like a mobile phone, it can even be carried around and used from other points within radio range of a service provider's base-station.
An airliner with 500 phones on board, whizzing across a city, would befuddle the network as the phones busily hopped from one base-station to the next.
People who had a system installed in winter often found that it stopped working in spring, as trees sprouted leaves that blocked the terminal's view of the base-station.
In this room, which is impervious to outside radio signals, our test engineers connected the phones to our base-station emulator, a device that simulates carrier cell towers (seevideo: IPhone 4 Design Defect Confirmed).
Simply hook up an inexpensive Wi-Fi base station to a high-speed Internet connection.
"We've shrunk a 30-foot base station into a three-inch Raspberry Pi and created our own mobile phone network, " said PA's Frazer Bennett.
That's when Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) debuted the Airport, the first cheap Wi-Fi base station that gave people--or at least the blessed few who used Macintosh computers--fast, wireless access to the Web.
TOKYO, JAPAN, November 16, 2012 --- NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today that it has developed the world's first dual-mode small-cell base station, or femtocell, supporting 3G (W-CDMA) and LTE simultaneously for improved service coverage in indoor locations such as offices, shops and homes.
ENGADGET: NTT DoCoMo readies first dual-mode HSDPA, LTE femtocell for December
Our only complaint with Airport has been that, while the signal passed through plasterboard and brick--letting us stay online even while enjoying fresh air in a courtyard a floor below and 100 feet from the base station--we had an intermittent connection from the room opening out into that courtyard.
The Mobee Magic Charger does away with that nonsense with its inductive charging mini-USB base station and battery pack that slots into Apple's mouse -- no special sleeve or bulky appendage required unlike many after-market inductive charging solutions.
ENGADGET: Mobee's inductive Magic Charger for Apple's Magic Mouse really is magical
It then combines this real-time information with ephemeris data, mapping, cellular base station and Wi-Fi access point database information, and other cloud-based aiding information using the SiRFusion platform.
ENGADGET: CSR sharpens indoor and in-car navigation with SiRFstarV, SiRFusion and SiRFprimaII
Out of the box, the system doesn't look so different a 3.5-pound base station that could pass for a slightly longer, curvier Wii.
In a standard wireless network--such as those used by cellular vendors like Sprint PCS (nyse: FON - news - people )--a central antenna or base station always acts as middleman in any communication.
In order for network operators to effectively deploy and manage such a large number of distributed access points (one analyst recently predicted 12 small cells will be deployed for each macro base station), these small-cell base stations need to be compact, inexpensive, energy efficient, reliable and easily manageable by the same system that operates macro cells.
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Since the PC base station houses the Intel CPU, the tablet will use the ever-versatile Splashtop software to run Windows 8, effectively beamed from the base station using a direct (and automatic) WiFi connection.
All users within a couple of hundred feet of the base station who have an inexpensive Wi-Fi device in their PCs or PDAs can then share low-cost, high-speed access to the Internet--without having to pay individually for more expensive dedicated DSL or cable modem service.
Armstrong spent seven years at NACA's high-speed flight station at Edwards Air Force Base in California, becoming one of the world's best test pilots.
The Ghost Bee also comes with a base station that connects to the headphones via micro-USB and hooks up to any home stereo's 3.5mm audio-in jack.
After returning and graduating from Purdue, Neil applied to become a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics High-Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base.
It's not just about speed, though -- the new gear also supports interesting new services, including the ability to notify users when other users (for example, children) have entered the base station's range and reception of time- and location-sensitive coupons directly to phones presently attached to the cell.
ENGADGET: NTT DoCoMo boosts its femtocell with HSPA support for fall launch
In these locations it can be traditionally either too difficult or costly to deploy a macro cell base station. lightRadio Metro Radio will provide a cost-effective alternative.
ENGADGET: Alcatel-Lucent's latest lightRadio development aims to spread TD-LTE across China
And on February 7th Alcatel-Lucent unveiled technology that reduces the size of a wireless base station from a filing cabinet's to that of a Rubik's cube.
One cool feature: The RoboCleaner is self-emptying--when it's full, it automatically makes its way back to its base station and empties itself via a suction process.
All its computers now include a built-in antenna which, in conjunction with a networking card, can exchange data with a small base station plugged into a broadband Internet connection up to 45 metres (150 feet) away.
Now you can stroll the immaculate Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, a mile-long promenade dotted with fountains, public art and parks that stretches from South Station to near the base of the stylish Leonard P.
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