A robotic surgical system and method are disclosed for handling real-time and non-real-time traffic. In one embodiment, a surgical robotic system is provided comprising at least one robotic arm coupled to an operating table; and a control computer comprising a processor and a hardware interface, wherein the processor is configured to: receive a notification about real-time data from the operating table at the hardware interface; process the real-time data immediately upon receiving the notification; and poll the hardware interface for non-real time data from the operating table only when not processing the real-time data. Other embodiments are provided.