Inventors:
Ilan Raab - Sunnyvale CA
Nam N. Nguyen - Fremont CA
Ai-Lan Chang - Fremont CA
Gilbert D. Ho - Saratoga CA
Guruprasad S. Hadagali - Sunnyvale CA
Assignee:
Bay Networks, Inc. - Santa Clara CA
International Classification:
H04L 1228
H04L 1256
Abstract:
A method for determining the topology of a mixed-media network is provided. According to the method, the network is divided into communities of devices that support a common topology mechanism ("spheres"). On each sphere, one or more sphere topology agents generate and accumulate topology data for the devices on the sphere using the topology mechanism that is supported by the devices within the sphere. A global topology agent collects the topology data for each sphere from the various sphere agents and assembles the data to determine the global topology of the mixed-media network. The global topology agent begins by collecting data from a current sphere and identifies additional spheres based on data stored in boundary devices within the current sphere. The global topology agent then repeats the same process with the additional spheres until topology data has been collected from all of the spheres in the mixed-media network.