Patent ID: 7945914

Claim:
A method of determining when to perform a computer background process, wherein the background process is stored in memory connected to a central processing unit (CPU) via a memory bus, the method comprising: allowing the computer background process to access a computer resource via a peripheral bus for a first predetermined time period in response to determining that one or more idle cycles of the CPU are available; after the first predetermined time period has elapsed, inhibiting the computer background process from accessing the computer resource for a second predetermined time period; after the second predetermined time period has elapsed, determining if one or more idle cycles of the CPU are available; in response to determining that one or more idle cycles of the CPU are available, determining if the computer resource is being used by another process, wherein in response to determining that the computer resource is being used by another process, waiting for a third predetermined time period and after the third predetermined time period has elapsed, again determining if the computer resource is being used by another process, and in response to determining that the computer resource is not being used by another process, allowing the computer background process to access the computer resource via the peripheral bus again.