Method and system for offloaded transport layer protocol switching

1. A method for using offloaded transport layer protocols comprising:

signaling a network interface controller (NIC) with a first signal to use a first transport layer protocol selected from a plurality of transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC;

transmitting a first data packet via the NIC using the first transport layer protocol;

signaling the NIC with a second signal to use a second transport layer protocol, wherein the second transport layer protocol is not in the plurality of transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC when the second signal is received;

providing, to the NIC, the second transport layer protocol; and

transmitting the second data packet via the NIC using the second transport layer protocol.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

registering the plurality of transport layer protocols with an operating system to obtain a plurality of registered transport layer protocols,

wherein signaling the NIC to use the transport layer protocol is based on the plurality of registered transport layer protocols.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of transport layer protocols is embedded in the NIC as firmware.

4. The method of claim 3 ,

wherein the NIC updates the firmware to add the second transport layer protocol to the plurality of transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of transport layer protocols is embedded in the NIC as an integrated circuit, and wherein at least one of the plurality of transport layer protocols is embedded in the NIC as firmware.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein signaling the NIC comprises modifying a transport layer protocol designation variable stored on the NIC.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein signaling the NIC comprises storing a transport layer protocol designation flag in a header of the data packet.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transport layer protocols comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of transmission control protocol (TCP) Tahoe, TCP Reno, TCP Vegas, TCP NewReno, TCP Hybla, TCP Westwood, TCP Selective Acknowledgement Options (SACK), Hamilton TCP (HTCP), HighSpeed TCP (HSTCP), Binary Increase Congestion (BIC) TCP, Cubic BIC (CUBIC) TCP, Fast Active Queue Management Scalable TCP (FAST), Scalable TCP (STCP), Smart Acknowledgement (ACK) Dropper (SAD), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

9. A network interface controller (NIC) comprising:

a network interface;

a plurality of transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC;

a processor; and

a memory comprising executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the NIC to:

receive a first signal to use a transport layer protocol selected from the plurality of transport layer protocols embedded in the NIC, and

determine whether the transport layer protocol is currently available on the NIC; and

transmit, 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;

receive 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

update the firmware, in response to determining that the new 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.

10. The NIC of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the plurality of transport layer protocols is embedded in the NIC as firmware.

11. The NIC of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the plurality of transport layer protocols is embedded in the NIC as an integrated circuit, and wherein at least one of the plurality of transport layer protocols is embedded in the NIC as firmware.

12. The NIC of claim 9 , wherein receiving the first signal comprises accessing a transport layer protocol designation variable stored on the NIC.

13. The NIC of claim 9 , wherein receiving the first signal comprises accessing a transport layer protocol designation flag in a header of the data packet.

14. The NIC of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of transport layer protocols comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of transmission control protocol (TCP) Tahoe, TCP Reno, TCP Vegas, TCP NewReno, TCP Hybla, TCP Westwood, TCP Selective Acknowledgement Options (SACK), Hamilton TCP (HTCP), HighSpeed TCP (HSTCP), Binary Increase Congestion (BIC) TCP, Cubic BIC (CUBIC) TCP, Fast Active Queue Management Scalable TCP (FAST), Scalable TCP (STCP), Smart Acknowledgement (ACK) Dropper (SAD), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).