Patent ID: 8082460

Claim:
A network-connectable device configured to communicate with one or more computer-related devices via a network, said network-connectable device comprising: a mode selector configured to select a power mode between a first power mode and a second power mode; a power state switching unit operable on the first power mode and configured to: turn on power of the network-connectable device when one of the computer-related devices is connected to the network in a state where no computer-related device has been connected to the network; and shut down the power when no computer-related device is connected to the network; a power state maintaining unit operable on the second power mode and configured to maintain the power of the network connectable device in a same state regardless of whether the computer-related devices are connected to or disconnected from the network, wherein each of the computer-related devices comprises: a stop command signal transmission unit configured to: determine, in response to disconnection operation of the computer-related device for a disconnection from the network, whether other computer-related devices are already disconnected from the network; and transmit a stop command signal to the network-connectable device via the network when all the other computer-related devices are determined to be already disconnected from the network; and a start command signal transmission unit configured to transmit a start command signal to the network-connectable device via the network in response to connection operation of the computer-related device for a connection with the network, and wherein the power state switching unit is configured to: shut down the power of the network-connectable device when the network-connectable device receives the stop command signal; and turn on the power of the network-connectable device when the network-connectable device receives the start command signal.