System and method for providing dynamic personalities for network ports
View Patent ↗A network adapter, includes a first transceiver module with a transceiver that operates according to a first network protocol and a memory element that includes information that identifies the first network protocol, a second transceiver module with a transceiver that operates according to a second network protocol and a memory element that includes information that identifies the second network protocol, and a controller that reads the information from the first memory element, directs an information handling system to invoke a first network driver associated with the first network protocol based upon the information, reads the second information from the second memory element, and directs the information handling system to invoke a second network driver associated with the second network protocol based upon the second information.
1. A network adapter installable into an information handling system, the network adapter comprising:
a first transceiver module installed in a first module connector and that includes:
a first transceiver that is coupleable to a first network and that operates according to a first network protocol; and
a first memory element that includes first information that identifies the first network protocol;
a second transceiver module installed in a second module connector and that includes:
a second transceiver that is coupleable to a second network and that operates according to a second network protocol; and
a second memory element that includes second information that identifies the second network protocol;
a host bus interface that couples a processor complex of the information handling system to a controller of the network adapter, wherein, in response to power being applied to the network adapter the controller:
reads the first information from the first memory element;
directs the information handling system to invoke a first network driver associated with the first network protocol based upon the first information;
reads the second information from the second memory element; and
directs the information handling system to invoke a second network driver associated with the second network protocol based upon the second information; and
a mapper that includes;
a first protocol channel associated only with the first module connector, the first protocol channel including a first configurable header stripper coupled to a first configurable header adder; and
a second protocol channel associated only with the second module connector, the second protocol channel including a second configurable header stripper coupled to a second configurable header adder, wherein the mapper examines incoming packets to determine a protocol associated with the incoming packets, strips off a header of the incoming packets, looks up a mapped protocol for a target of the incoming packets, loads a preprogrammed header template for the target protocol, and converts the incoming packets to the target type using the associated template.
2. The network adapter of claim 1 , wherein the controller further:
detects that the first transceiver module has been removed from the first module connector;
detects that a third transceiver has been installed in the first module connector, wherein the third transceiver includes;
the third transceiver that is coupleable to a third network and that operates according to a third network protocol; and
a third memory element that includes third information that identifies the third network protocol;
reads the third information from the third memory element;
directs the information handling system to invoke a third network driver associated with the third network protocol based upon the third information.
3. The network adapter of claim 1 , wherein the first network protocol is the same as the second network protocol, and the first network driver is the same as the second network driver.
4. The network adapter of claim 1 , wherein the first network protocol is different from the second network protocol, and the first network driver is different from the second network driver.
5. The network adapter of claim 1 , wherein the first transceiver module and the second transceiver module are Small Form Factor Pluggable transceiver modules.
6. The network adapter of claim 1 , wherein the network adapter:
receives, via the host bus interface, a first data packet that is targeted to the first network;
routes the first data packet to the first transceiver;
receives, via the host bus interface, a second data packet that is targeted to the second network; and
routes the second data packet to the second transceiver.
7. The network adapter of claim 1 , wherein:
the first configurable header stripper strips off a first packet header from the first data packet; and
the first configurable header adder adds a second packet header to the first data packet after the first configurable header stripper strips off the first packet header from the first data packet, the second packet header being associated with the first network protocol.
8. The network adapter of claim 7 , wherein:
the second configurable header stripper further strips off a third packet header from the second data packet; and
the second configurable header adder adds a fourth packet header to the second data packet after the second configurable header stripper strips off the third packet header from the second data packet, the fourth packet header being associated with the second network protocol.
9. A method, comprising:
reading, by a controller of a network adapter, first information from a first memory element of a first transceiver module of the network adapter, wherein the first information identifies a first network protocol associated with the first transceiver module;
directing an information handling system that includes the network adapter to invoke a first network driver associated with the first network protocol based upon the first information;
reading, by the controller, second information from a second memory element of a second transceiver module of the network adapter, wherein the second information identifies a second network protocol associated with the second transceiver module;
directing the information handling system to invoke a second network driver associated with the second network protocol based upon the second information;
routing, by a mapper of the network adapter, a first data packet from the information handling system to the first transceiver module via a first protocol channel of the mapper that is associated only with the first module connector, the first protocol channel including a first configurable header stripper coupled to a first configurable header adder;
routing, by the mapper, a second data packet from the information handling system to the second transceiver module via a second protocol channel of the mapper that is associated only with the second module connector, the second protocol channel including a second configurable header stripper coupled to a second configurable header adder;
examining, by the mapper, incoming packets to determine a protocol associated with the incoming packets;
stripping off, by the mapper, a header of the incoming packets;
looking up, by the mapper, a mapped protocol for a target of the incoming packets;
loading by the mapper, a preprogrammed header template for the target protocol; and
converting, by the mapper, the incoming packets to the target type using the associated template.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
detecting that the first transceiver module has been removed from the network adapter;
detecting that a third transceiver has been installed in the network adapter;
reading, by the controller, third information from a third memory element of the third transceiver module via the two-wire interface, wherein the third information identifies a third network protocol associated with the third transceiver module;
directing the information handling system to invoke a third network driver associated with the third network protocol based upon the third information.
11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
stripping, by the first configurable header stripper, a first packet header from the first data packet; and
adding, by the first configurable header adder, a second packet header to the first data packet after the first configurable header stripper strips off the first packet header from the first data packet, the second packet header being associated with the first network protocol.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
stripping, by the second configurable header stripper, a third packet header from the second data packet; and
adding, by the second configurable header adder, a fourth packet header to the second data packet after the first configurable header stripper strips off the third packet header from the second data packet, the fourth packet header being associated with the second network protocol.
13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including code for performing a method, the method comprising:
reading, by a controller of a network adapter, first information from a first memory element of a first transceiver module of the network adapter, wherein the first information identifies a first network protocol associated with the first transceiver module;
directing an information handling system that includes the network adapter to invoke a first network driver associated with the first network protocol based upon the first information;
reading, by the controller, second information from a second memory element of a second transceiver module of the network adapter, wherein the second information identifies a second network protocol associated with the second transceiver module;
directing the information handling system to invoke a second network driver associated with the second network protocol based upon the second information; and
routing, by a mapper of the network adapter, a first data packet from the information handling system to the first transceiver module via a first protocol channel of the mapper that is associated only with the first module connector, the first protocol channel including a first configurable header stripper coupled to a first configurable header adder;
routing, by the mapper, a second data packet from the information handling system to the second transceiver module via a second protocol channel of the mapper that is associated only with the second module connector, the second protocol channel including a second configurable header stripper coupled to a second configurable header adder;
examining, by the mapper, incoming packets to determine a protocol associated with the incoming packets;
stripping off, by the mapper, a header of the incoming packets;
looking up, by the mapper, a mapped protocol for a target of the incoming packets;
loading, by the mapper, a preprogrammed header template for the target protocol; and
converting, by the mapper, the incoming packets to the target type using the associated template.
14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , the method further comprising:
detecting that the first transceiver module has been removed from the network adapter;
detecting that a third transceiver has been installed in the network adapter;
reading, by the controller, third information from a third memory element of the third transceiver module via the two-wire interface, wherein the third information identifies a third network protocol associated with the third transceiver module;
directing the information handling system to invoke a third network driver associated with the third network protocol based upon the third information.