The computational load imposed by a software modem executed on a general purpose processor can be significantly reduced by exploiting periods during an active connection when no data is being received by the software modem. In particular, execution of many receive path signal processing algorithms can be disabled when no data is being received by the software modem. The transmit path continues output modulation as with a normal connection, so as to trick the remote modem (which may or may not be a software modem) into believing the connection is still normal. However, substantial portions of the software modem's receive path can be disabled, thereby reducing computational load on the general purpose processor and freeing additional compute cycles for application and/or operating system program use.