Patent ID: 7746901

Claim:
A method for installing firmware on a network interface controller (NIC) comprising: accessing a computer readable medium to obtain the firmware; and installing the firmware on the NIC, wherein the firmware comprises executable instructions for: receiving a first signal to use a transport layer protocol selected from a plurality of transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC, determining whether the transport layer protocol is currently available on the NIC; transmitting, in response to determining that the transport layer protocol is currently available on the NIC, a data packet via a network interface using the transport layer protocol; receiving a second signal to use a new transport layer protocol, wherein the new transport layer protocol is not in the plurality of transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC when the second signal is received; and updating the firmware, in response to determining that the transport layer protocol is not currently available on the NIC, to add the new transport layer protocol to the plurality of transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC in response to the second signal.