A method for conserving energy in a computing unit and transferring data between
the computing unit and an external source. The computing unit is in a power saving
mode. The method includes receiving at the computing unit a request from an external
source, determining which components of the computing unit are required to respond
to the request, selectively activating, from the power saving mode, the components
of the computing unit necessary to respond the request, and responding to the request
using the selectively activated components of the computing unit. As one example,
the computing unit may comprise a laptop, and the external source may comprise
a PDA, and the request may include a request from the PDA to retrieve data from
or store data on the laptop.
