1. A method of upgrading system capability of a communications network, the method comprising: initiating a transfer of at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to a host card; instructing the host card to begin an upgrade process; determining whether at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions on the host card is valid; and completing the transfer of at least one valid set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to the host card; wherein the system capability is upgraded without affecting operation of the network.