Patent ID: 8667181

Claim:
A communication device to be respectively connected with a first device and a second device, wherein the first device is configured to repeatedly execute a process of sending a first request packet to the communication device and receiving a first response packet from the communication device in response to the first request packet, and configured to newly send the first request packet when a predetermined time period from receiving the first response packet has elapsed, and the second device is configured to repeatedly execute a process of sending a second request packet to the communication device and receiving a second response packet from the communication device in response to the second request packet, and configured to newly send the second request packet when the predetermined time period from receiving the second response packet has elapsed, and the communication device comprises: one or more processors; and a memory that stores a computer program including instructions to be executed by the one or more processors, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors, when executed by the one or more processors, to function as: a receiving control unit configured to receive the first request packet from the first device and receive the second request packet from the second device; a sending control unit configured to send the first response packet to the first device in response to the first request packet and send the second response packet to the second device in response to the second request packet; and a deciding unit configured to decide a sending timing for sending the second response packet to the second device, wherein the sending timing is decided such that a time period from receiving the second request packet to sending the second response packet in response to the second request packet is longer than a time period from receiving the first request packet to sending the first response packet in response to the first request packet, wherein the sending control unit is configured to send the second response packet to the second device at the decided sending timing, the deciding unit is configured to decide the sending timing of the second request packet each time the second request packet is received, until a timing when the first request packet received is substantially equal to a timing when the second request packet is received, and each time the second request packet is received, the sending control unit is configured to send the second response packet in response to the second request packet at the sending timing decided for the second request packet.