Let A be an n×n nonnegative irreducible pattern. The minimum rank of A is the minimum of ranks of all real matrices which have the same sign pattern as A. Consider the sequence A
A
2
A
3
:. Let A
b
be the first one that is repeated. Write A
b
=A
b+p
with p0 minimal. Then b is called the base of A. and p the period of A. We study the relations between the base and the minimum rank of nonnegative irreducible pattern A.