Patent ID: 6449663
Filing Date: 2002-09-10
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method comprising:periodically determining a working status of a network printer residing on a network by performing a polling inquiry in accordance with a polling interval associated with the network printer and reading a Management Information Base (MIB) stored within the network printer indicating the working status of the network printer, the working status indicating whether or not a print job is currently being processed by the network printer; decreasing network traffic on the network and conserving processing resources associated with the network by lengthening the polling interval associated with the network printer and thereby temporarily increasing the length of time between polling inquiries if the working status indicates the network printer is not currently processing a print job; and shortening the polling interval associated with the network printer and thereby temporarily decreasing the length of time between polling inquiries if the working status indicates the network printer is currently processing a print job.