Patent ID: 8489908

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a network controller configured to process packets that are transmitted and received via a network to which the network controller is connected; a controller configured to control a control target device connected to the apparatus, based on the packets processed by the network controller; and a power mode switching unit configured to control an operation of switching from a regular power mode in which power is supplied to the controller to a power saving mode in which power is not supplied to the controller, wherein in a state where power is supplied to the controller and the control target device is not operated for a predetermined time period, the network controller determines whether the packets that are transmitted and received via the network are packets that are processed by the controller, identifies packets for which the packet processing is to be ineffective among the packets determined as being processed in both the regular power mode and the power saving mode by the controller, based on identification information set in advance for indicating whether to make the packet processing effective or ineffective, and instructs the power mode switching unit to switch to the power saving mode after a predetermined time period has elapsed after the identification.