Abstract:
A method and arrangement for discovering the physical topology of a telecommunication network having switches, routers, and a management node interconnected by links in a spanning tree and links to blocked interfaces. The management node broadcasts a ping message and adds replying nodes to the topology. The management node discovers the spanning tree by retrieving address forwarding tables from the switches, assigning them a ranking value, and connecting from the highest ranked nodes to successively lower ranked nodes. The management node discovers the blocked interfaces by configuring a VLAN to include the spanning tree and disabling the spanning tree protocol. The blocked interfaces are turned on and off while matching link down traps are noted and the corresponding links are discovered. Only basic management features of the switches are needed, and all nodes and links are discovered.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/870,890 filed Dec. 20, 2006, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention refers to discovering physical topology of an Ethernet network. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Topology discovery is a critical issue in order to have a well managed Ethernet network. There are some approaches in the literature that aim to solve this task, nonetheless, each of them has significant disadvantages. 
     Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP), described in IEEE 802.1AB—Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery, which is the emerging IEEE standard 802.1AB, promises to simplify troubleshooting of enterprise networks and enhance the ability of network management tools to discover and maintain network topologies. The protocol LLDP is a neighbor discovery protocol. It defines a standard method for Ethernet network switches to advertise information about themselves to neighbor nodes on the network and store the information that they discover. They store the LLDP information in an IEEE-defined Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Management Information Base (MIB), thus it is available to network management systems. Nevertheless, LLDP proposes a standard topology discovery approach, LLDP may/will not be implemented in all Ethernet switches, especially not in low-cost products. 
     A serious drawback of the protocol LLDP is that it is not available in low-cost Ethernet switches. Therefore an operator having some switches that do not support LLDP cannot have topology discovery based on this protocol. This is true especially when each switch is a low-cost node without LLDP in order to have a low-cost network. Authors of R. Black, A. Donnelly and C. Fourne, “Ethernet Topology Discovery without Network Assistance,” 12th IEEE International Conference on Network Protocols (ICNP&#39;04), 2004, pp. 328-339, propose an Ethernet (Layer 2) topology discovery scheme without assistance from the network elements but relying on the hosts connected to the network. Most hosts in the network run a daemon that injects suitable probe packets and observe where they are delivered. Therefore, network hosts require new functionality, which does not fit into a low-cost approach. 
     The most significant drawback of this is that each host has to run a daemon in order to achieve topology discovery, which is hard to accomplish in an Ethernet network, especially in a low-cost one. Further problem of probe packet based approaches is that they can only discover the forwarding topology but not the physical topology. That is physical links that are actually not used for packet forwarding, e.g. blocked by STP, cannot be discovered in a probe packet manner. 
     Another approach is proposed in M-H. Son, B-S. Joo, B-C Kim and J-Y Lee, “Physical Topology Discovery for Metro Ethernet Networks,” ETRI Journal, vol. 27, no. 4, August 2005, pp. 355-366. This approach is based on monitoring of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) messages, i.e. Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDU) and retrieving STP MIBs from the switches. 
     The above approach proposed by M-H. Son et al cannot be applied in a network where STP is disabled for some reason, e.g. TRILL or it is assured by VLAN design that the topology is loop free. Furthermore, the assumptions used therein are not valid for all switches, i.e. it is vendor dependent. 
     In B. Lowekamp, D. R. O&#39;Hallaron and T. R. Gross, “Topology Discovery for Large Ethernet Networks,” ACM SIGCOMM 2001, San Diego, Calif., USA, August 2001, pp. 237-248, and in Y. Bejerano, Y. Breitbart, M. Garofalakis and R. Rastogi, “Physical Topology Discovery for Large Multi-Subnet Networks, “IEEE INFOCOM 2003, San Francisco, USA, April 2003, pp. 342-352, Address Forwarding Table (AFT) information is collected via SNMP MIBs to discover the topology, but only spanning tree paths can be retrieved. 
     A common feature of those works described in the two above publications is that they only use AFT entries. So, they can only find spanning tree paths and exclude multiple redundant paths. Even though their techniques are said to discover the physical topology of Ethernet networks, they have the limitations of discovering only Layer-2 spanning tree paths. 
     To summarize: existing solutions, that do not use LLDP and are claimed to discover the physical topology, only discover the forwarding topology determined by STP or in some cases able to find links that are blocked by STP but they do not discover all physical links in a heterogeneous Ethernet network. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention is concerned with a problem to discover the physical topology of an Ethernet network. The discovery has to cover all the network nodes and links, also links that are blocked by a spanning tree protocol xSTP. The discovering also has to be independent of the type of network nodes. 
     A further problem is to discover changes in the network topology during its operation. 
     The problems of discovering the physical topology of an Ethernet network are solved in the following manner. The network has nodes, including switches, bridges and routers, interconnected by physical links, and a management node with a network management system. The nodes have interfaces on witch a spanning tree protocol xSTP is enabled to set up a spanning tree topology. The switches, bridges and routers are configured with an IP address of the management node. The management node broadcasts a node discovery message and on receiving a reply message from one of the nodes it adds that node to the network physical topology. The tree topology of the physical links is set up with the aid of the XSTP, wherein the management node both retrieves information from Address Forwarding Tables AFT maintained by the switches and assigns a ranking value to each of the switches. The ranking value depends on how many of the switches that are seen by each switch and with the aid of which the physical links are discovered. 
     The assigning of the ranking value to one of the switches optionally includes that the total number of nodes in the network seen by the switch is established. A number of the nodes, seen via the interface that contains the MAC address to the management node, are then excluded from the total number giving the ranking value. 
     The tree topology is optionally discovered by determining the ranking value of a first one of the switches and determining a second one of the switches with the next lower ranking value. The interface of the first switch, on which the second switch is received, and the interface of the second switch, which leads to the network management system node, are interconnected with a link. 
     A blocked interface is optionally discovered by configuring a VLAN to include only the tree topology obtained by the xSTP and the xSTP is then disabled. It is determined that the blocked interface is up and is not connected to the reconfigured VLAN. The blocked interface is turned off and on and matching link down traps from each end of a link are noted. The blocked interface is connected to its link peer interface. 
     Changes in the tree topology of the physical links are optionally discovered by seeking cyclically for the status of the interfaces of the switches. An added link is discovered by detecting the matching link peer interface to one of the interfaces of the switch, the detecting being performed by two corresponding link down traps. The newly found status is compared with the previous status and a discovered link is added to the network topology. 
     The status of the interfaces of one of the switches is optionally checked and it is unable to detect two corresponding link down and up traps for one of the interfaces. The interface is added to the network and the topology discovery to discover the structure of a network segment connected via said one interface is repeated. 
     An object of the invention is to discover the physical topology of an Ethernet network, covering all the network nodes and links, also links that are blocked by any of the spanning tree protocols, e.g. STP, RSTP or MSTP, and to be independent of the type of network nodes. 
     A further object is to discover changes in the network topology during its operation. 
     The proposed method and arrangement has the advantages to discover the physical topology of heterogeneous Ethernet networks independently of vendors and without enhanced features of the switches. It works on commodity off-the-shelf switches, only basic management features are required. The mechanism does not require any specific protocol running on network nodes and works with equipment from various vendors. Each node and physical link of the network is discovered, also links to blocked interfaces of the nodes. The physical topology of the network is continuously monitored and the addition or removal of physical connections or network segments is continuously detected. The discovery is robust. 
     The invention will now be more closely described with the aid of preferred embodiments and with reference to enclosed drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a view over an example network; 
         FIG. 2  shows an overview flowchart over the discovery; 
         FIG. 3  shows a flowchart over node discovery; 
         FIG. 4  shows a flowchart over spanning tree discovery; 
         FIG. 5  shows a flowchart over blocked interfaces discovery; 
         FIG. 6  shows a view over an example network with an added connection; 
         FIG. 7  shows a view over an example network with an added network segment; 
         FIG. 8  shows a flowchart over the discovery of topology changes in a network during its operation; 
         FIG. 9  shows a view over an example network topology that has been tested; and 
         FIG. 10  shows a block schematic over an arrangement to perform the method. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows as an example a view over a network NW 1 . The network NW 1  has a number of nodes, including switches S 1 -S 7 , routers R 1 -R 4  and a management node NMS 1  on which the Network Management System NMS is implemented. As an alternative also bridges can be included among the nodes. The nodes are interconnected by physical links, like links PL 1  and PL 2 . As will be described more closely below a presumption is that a spanning tree protocol, denoted xSTP, is running on the network NW 1 . Examples on the xSTP are the Spanning Tree Protocol STP, the Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol RSTP and the Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol MSTP. The XSTP sets up a spanning tree ST 1  marked with bold lines representing the physical links PL 1  to active interfaces of the nodes. Dashed lines represent the physical links PL 2  to the interfaces which are blocked by the XSTP. Interface numbers  1 ,  2  . . . are noted for each of the switches S 1 -S 7  at corresponding link end. In an alternative embodiment the switches are included in a virtual LAN VLAN 1 . The aim for the NMS is to discover and store the physical topology of the network NW 1 . 
     Basic Concept of the Topology Discovery 
     The physical topology discovery is done automatically by the Network Management System NMS at network start-up. Note that the network NW 1  then is completely unknown to the system NMS in the management node NMS 1  and its database is empty. 
       FIG. 2  shows a flowchart with an overview over the discovery method. In a step  21  the system NMS is implemented in the management node NMS 1 . The switches and routers are configured with an IP address IPN of the node NMS 1  in a step  22 . In a next step  23  the management node NMS 1  discovers the network nodes S 1 -S 7  and R 1 -R 4  by a node discovery message Pi 1 . This message is a so called broadcast ping and in an alternative it is an Address Resolution Protocol ARP message. Then, in a step  24 , the physical links PL 1  that are part of the spanning tree determined by the protocol xSTP are discovered. In order to have this tree, forwarding tables of the switches S 1 -S 7  are read out in a specific order. Then the physical links PL 2  that are blocked by the xSTP are determined with the help of the Simple Network Management Protocol SNMP, step  25 . In a step  26  changes in the physical topology of the network NW 1  are checked regularly by the system NMS during network operation. 
     Assumptions for the Embodiment 
     The topology discovery mechanism, driven by the Network Management System NMS, relies in the embodiment on the following assumptions: 
     The network handled includes layer 2 (L2) or layer 2/layer 3 (L2/L3) switches in the core and L2/L3 switches or IP routers at the edge. 
     The switches have the following protocols implemented: 802.1q (Virtual LAN), 802.1d (Spanning Tree Protocol STP or corresponding XSTP protocol) and RFC 1157 (Simple Network Management Protocol). 
     The switches have the following Management Information Bases (MIBs) implemented: Bridge MIB (RFC 1493) and MIB II (RFC 1213) and IF MIB (RFC 2863). 
     The switches and the routers (one of the core interfaces of the router) are configured with the same subnet mask. The subnet address is known in advance by the NMS. 
     The switches and routers are configured with the IP address of the management node NMS 1  to be able to send traps to the system NMS. 
     The switches start in one embodiment with all interfaces included in an untagged virtual LAN (VLAN). In an alternative embodiment the VLAN is enabled later in the discovery process, as will be described below. 
     The switches start with the spanning tree protocol XSTP enabled on all the interfaces. 
     The system NMS has one interface directly connected to the L2 network. The topology discovery mechanism will exchange messages with the network elements through this interface. 
     Proprietary topology discovery protocols are in the embodiment disabled on all the switches but can as an alternative be retained. 
     It is also an alternative to let the proprietary topology discovery protocols to run. 
     The method includes two execution times: initialization and on-the-fly. Both of them will be described below. 
     Initialization Time 
     When the physical topology discovery process (PTDP) in the NMS initiates, its database is completely empty and the only assumptions are the ones described above. This means that the network is completely unknown to the system NMS in the management node NMS 1 . During the initialization time the method passes through three well-defined phases: node, spanning tree and blocked interface discovery. During the initialization time it is supposed that no changes occur in the network. 
     Node Discovery 
     The Physical Topology Discovery Process PTDP starts with discovering the nodes (switches S 1 -S 7  and routers R 1 -R 4 ) present in the network, exemplified by the network NW 1 . The PTDP broadcasts the node discovery message, in the embodiment a so called ping message Pi 1  with the sub-network broadcast address and waits for reply messages RPi 1 . The ping message Pi 1  is an Internet command for check of a connection. For each reply RPi 1  it adds a new node in the physical topology map. As some replies may be lost, PTDP repeats this phase a number of times, e.g. three times, ignoring the replies already registered.  FIG. 3  shows the flowchart that more in detail describes the node discovery method. The method starts with sending broadcast the ping message Pi 1  in a block  101 . In a block  102  the reply messages RPi 1  on the ping messages are received from the nodes and it is investigated for each reply if a received IP address for a node is valid. In a no alternative N, wait for a new reply. In a yes alternative Y it is investigated in a block  103  if the received IP address is already included. In a yes alternative Y, wait for a new reply in block  102 . In a no alternative N management information base MIB-II data is obtained in a block  104 . In a block  105  it is investigated if the node is a router. In a yes alternative Y the node is set as a router including its other interfaces in a block  110  and the procedure returns to block  102  for a new reply. In a no alternative N the node is set as a switch in a block  106 . In a block  107  it is investigated if it is the last reply message that is received. In a no alternative N the procedure returns to block  102  for a new reply. In a yes alternative Y it is investigated in a block  108  if it is the third time the process is repeated. In a no alternative N a new ping message Pi 1  is sent in the block  101  and in a yes alternative Y the process is ended in a block  109 . 
     Spanning Tree Discovery 
     It is important to notice that in the network initialization time the spanning tree protocol xSTP is running. XSTP avoids loops in the Layer2 L2 network, blocking the redundant interfaces and building a loop-free tree topology through the active interfaces. 
     The next task of the Physical Topology Discovery Process PTDP is to discover the spanning tree ST 1  calculated by xSTP. This is the most complex part of the process, and it is accomplished by retrieving information from the Address Forwarding Table AFT maintained by each switch. The AFT stores the Medium Access Control MAC addresses reachable via a given interface. This information is provided by the Bridge MIB (RFC 1493) and is obtained by means of the protocol SNMP get messages by the system NMS. 
     There are other relevant fields of information in the Bridge MIB that could have been used to discover the blocked interfaces. Nevertheless, those fields are optional and some vendors do not implement them. For this reason, PTDP uses a different approach to discover the blocked interfaces, see description below under Blocked Interfaces Discovery. 
     During the phase of tree discovery a ranking value RV is assigned to each switch: the number of nodes seen by it, excluding the ones seen via the interface that contains the NMS MAC address in its range. The AFT of each switch was filled-in during the node discovery phase as a result of the broadcast request and its responses. The highest value switch will always be the one directly connect to the management node NMS 1 , in the example the switch S 1 . The ranking values for the switches S 1 -S 7  in the network NW 1  are noted in each of the switches in Table 1 below. 
     Table 1 shows the address forwarding table AFT at each of the switches S 1 -S 7  in  FIG. 1  after the node discovery phase. For e.g. the switch S 1  the figure shows that the switches S 2 , S 3 , S 4 , S 5  and the routers R 2 , R 3 , R 4  are reached via the interface No.  1 . The management node NMS 1  is reached via interface No.  3 , the router R 1  via the interface No.  4  and the switches S 6  and S 7  via the interface No.  5 . 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Address Forwarding Tables state 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             ⁢ 
                             1 
                           
                           
                             RV 
                             = 
                             10 
                           
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           { 
                           
                             
                               
                                 Interface 
                               
                               
                                 MAC 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 1 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   
                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     2 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     3 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     4 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     5 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
                                     R 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     2 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
                                     R 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     3 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
                                     R 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     4 
                                   
                                 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 3 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   NMS 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   
                                       
                                   
                                   ⁢ 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 4 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   R 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   
                                       
                                   
                                   ⁢ 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 5 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   
                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     6 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     7 
                                   
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
                             ⁢ 
                             3 
                           
                           
                             RV 
                             = 
                             6 
                           
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           { 
                           
                             
                               
                                 Interface 
                               
                               
                                 MAC 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 1 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   R 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   
                                       
                                   
                                   ⁢ 
                                   2 
                                 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 2 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   
                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     2 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
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                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
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                                     4 
                                   
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                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     5 
                                   
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                                     R 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     3 
                                   
                                   , 
                                   
                                     R 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
                                     ⁢ 
                                     4 
                                   
                                 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 4 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   NMS 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   
                                       
                                   
                                   ⁢ 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             
                                 
                             
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                             2 
                           
                           
                             RV 
                             = 
                             4 
                           
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           { 
                           
                             
                               
                                 Interface 
                               
                               
                                 MAC 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 1 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   NMS 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   
                                       
                                   
                                   ⁢ 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 3 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   
                                     S 
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                                     ⁢ 
                                     4 
                                   
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                                     S 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     
                                         
                                     
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                                     5 
                                   
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                                     3 
                                   
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                                     4 
                                   
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             4 
                           
                           
                             RV 
                             = 
                             3 
                           
                         
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                           { 
                           
                             
                               
                                 Interface 
                               
                               
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                                 1 
                               
                               
                                 
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                                     5 
                                   
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                                     3 
                                   
                                 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 3 
                               
                               
                                 
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                                   4 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             5 
                           
                           
                             RV 
                             = 
                             1 
                           
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           { 
                           
                             
                               
                                 Interface 
                               
                               
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                                 1 
                               
                               
                                 
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                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 2 
                               
                               
                                 
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                                   ⁢ 
                                   
                                       
                                   
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                                   3 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             6 
                           
                           
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                             = 
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                                   7 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             7 
                           
                           
                             RV 
                             = 
                             0 
                           
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           { 
                           
                             
                               
                                 Interface 
                               
                               
                                 MAC 
                               
                             
                             
                               
                                 1 
                               
                               
                                 
                                   NMS 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   
                                       
                                   
                                   ⁢ 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     From the AFT tables the method determines that the switch S 1  in  FIG. 1  is the switch with the highest ranking value RV=10, as it is the one connected to the network management system NMS 1  on interface  3 . The switch S 1  may achieve many switches and routers on its interface  1 , so it is assumed that this interface is connected to the second highest ranking value switch S 3  through this switch&#39;s interface number  4 , which leads to the management node NMS 1 . Thus, in the picture of the network NW 1  to be discovered by the management node NMS 1 , the interface  1  of the switch S 1  is connected by a link to the interface  4  of the switch S 3 . In a corresponding manner interface  5  of switch S 1  is interconnected with interface  1  of switch S 6 . Interface  4  may achieve just one router. In this case, the interface  4  is connected to the router R 1  directly through the router interface whose MAC address matches the one in the AFT. All the switches are handled in a corresponding manner, completing the spanning tree discovery phase. 
       FIG. 4  presents the spanning tree discovery method flowchart. It shows the above described method more in detail and will be described by an example in connection with the network NW 1  in  FIG. 1 . Note that it is presumed that initially the topology of the network NW 1  is unknown to the system NMS in the node NMS 1 . In a block  401  the AFT:s from all the switches are collected by the management node NMS 1 . The ranking value of each switch is generated in a block  402  and the interface to the management node NMS 1  is marked. As mentioned above the switch S 1  has the highest ranking value and the interface  3  connects the network management system NMS. In a block  403  the switch S 1  is selected the first time this block is passed and in a block  404  the interface  3  is selected. In a block  405  it is decided if the interface  3  achieves the NMS and if the node has the highest ranking value. This is the case in a yes alternative Y and in a block  406  the interface  3  is connected to the node NMS 1  in the tree discovery process. Next step is performed in a block  411  where it is decided if it is the last interface of the current switch S 1 . This is not the case, only interface  3  is noted in the discovery process. Thus a no alternative N leads back to block  404  for an interface  1  on switch S 1 . Block  405  now gives a no alternative N leading to a block  407 , in which it is decided if the interface achieves only one router. This is not the case and gives a no alternative N leading to a block  409 . In this block it is decided if the interface achieves any switch which is the case in a yes alternative Y. In a block  410  the interface  1  is connected to the switch S 3  and in the following block  411  the question “Last interface?” gives the no alternative N. The process with the blocks  404 ,  405 ,  407  and  409  is repeated for all interfaces of switch S 1  towards other switches until the question in block  409  gives a no alternative N leading to block  411 . The no alternative N in this block leads to block  404 ,  405  and  407 . Now the question in block  407  gives a yes alternative Y and the interface  4  is connected to the router R 1  in a block  408 . The process continues with block  411  and a yes alternative Y in this block leads to a block  412  with the question if it is the last switch. A no alternative N leads to the block  403  and the process is repeated as described for next switch of the network. The repetition goes on until the last interface of the last switch gives a yes alternative in the block  412  and the process ends in a block  413 . 
     It is to be noted that the blocked interfaces to the physical links PL 2  are not discovered in the above process. 
     Blocked Interfaces Discovery 
     As mentioned above the discovery process starts with the spanning tree protocol XSTP enabled on all the switch interfaces. The XSTP generates as described the spanning tree ST 1  that is consistent and loop free and therefore some of the switch interfaces can be blocked. An example is the interfaces to the physical links PL 2  of the network NW 1  in  FIG. 1 . To complete the initialization phase also these blocked interfaces on the switches have to be discovered. 
     The discovery of the interfaces blocked by xSTP can be done using some fields in the Bridge MIB, like the “designated bridge”. Nevertheless, those fields are optional, and some vendors do not implement them. Because of that, in the present method a different approach is found: use of link down traps. 
     A link down trap occurs when an interface no longer senses the electrical voltage of its pair through the cable. It usually happens when the link is opened, probably because of a link failure. In such a case, the switch tries to warn the management system of the event. 
     This link down trap carries useful information for the topology discovery, like the interface ID for the interface that detected the failure and the IP address of the switch that issued the trap. This data is used to discover the remaining interfaces. 
     To generate the link down trap the discovery mechanism must cause a failure. At the first sight all that the process PTDP has to do is to check which interfaces that are in the UP state and which do not belong to the discovered tree. Then the process has to, for each interface, turn it off and match the information obtained from the two traps that should be received from the switches at both ends of the relevant link. 
     However, if the spanning tree protocpl XSTP is running some of the interfaces may be blocked during a topology change, which may cause connectivity loss between the management node NMS 1  and the other nodes for too long. These transients are extremely hard to deal with and must be avoided. 
     One possible solution is to make the statically-configured service VLAN VLAN 1  match the spanning tree determined by the spanning tree protocol XSTP. Either the VLAN is configured now or is configured earlier and is now reconfigured. Then the protocol xSTP can be disabled, before starting the discovery of the inactive links to the blocked interfaces. Note that the interfaces that are left out of the service VLAN VLAN 1  do not forward data traffic, but still generate traps in the event of a failure. The service VLAN is also referred to as Data Communication Network DCN in the present description. 
     At the end of this phase the spanning tree protocol xSTP may or may not be turned on depending on the type of network. For example, in MANs the spanning tree protocol xSTP may not be suitable, especially when the protective switching is applied and static VLAN topologies are calculated by a traffic engineering algorithm based on the recently discovered physical topology of the network. On the other hand, in an enterprise LAN, the network operator will most likely decide to keep the spanning tree protocol xSTP running. In this case the algorithm includes all ports of all nodes back into the service VLAN and reactivates the spanning tree protocol xSTP. Note that only the interfaces belonging to inactive physical links are turned off, hence not affecting the network connectivity as these links are not part of the spanning tree. 
     Note that the interfaces that are left out of the VLAN do not forward data traffic, but still generate traps in the event of a failure. This is necessary for the discovery of the blocked interfaces to work. 
     The blocked interfaces are turned off and then on via the protocol SNMP, using some fields in the interface MIB (IF MIB).  FIG. 5  shows the flowchart over the method which will be described below. 
     In a block  501  the VLAN of all the switches is configured, that reproduce the spanning tree topology. In the exemplifying network NW 1  the interfaces to the physical links PL 2  are excluded from the VLAN. In block  502  the protocol xSTP is disabled on all the switches S 1 -S 7 . In blocks  503  and  504  the process successively selects node and interface and then the process begins to investigate the interfaces. In block  505  is investigated if an interface is up and is not connected to the VLAN tree, e.g. the interface  3  on switch S 3 . In a no alternative N the process continues with a block  511  to see if it is the last interface. In a yes alternative Y the interface is turned off and then on again in block  506 . In a block  507  it is investigated if the two expected traps are received and in a yes alternative Y the interface  3  is connected to its link peer in block  510 . In a no alternative N in block  507  it is investigated in block  508  if it is the third time the interface is occurring. In a no alternative N the actions in blocks  506  and  507  are repeated. In a yes alternative Y in block  508  the interface is set to unsolved state in block  509 . In the block  511  it is investigated if it is the last interface of the switch in question. If not so, a no alternative N, the process is repeated from block  504 . For the switch S 1  a yes alternative Y is actual, and in a block  512  it is investigated if it is the last switch of the network. For the network NW 1  there are still switches to handle and a no alternative N is present. The process is repeated from the block  503  until all the blocked interfaces of all the switches are discovered. 
     At the end of this phase, the blocked interfaces discovery, the initialization phase of the topology discovery method is ready. This means that the initial physical topology of the network NW 1  has been discovered and is stored by the system NMS in the node NMS 1 . 
     Changes in the Network, On-The-Fly Time Loop 
     The on-the-fly time loop is an infinite loop which aims to discover changes in the network during its normal operation. Basically it keeps seeking cyclically for the interfaces status, by the protocol SNMP, and compares it with its previous status, stored in the database of the management node NMS 1 . Because any modification in the network results in a change of one or more interfaces status, this method covers all possibilities: the addition and removal of a link, a node or a network segment. The system NMS reaches the switches and gets the traps through the Data Communication Network DCN calculated previously, during the above described initialization time. 
     Adding or Removing a Link 
     In connection with  FIG. 6  an example will be described which illustrates a link addition case.  FIG. 6  depicts a network NW 2  with switches S 11 -S 41 , routers R 11 -R 41  and a management node NMS 11  with the Network Management System NMS. The figure depicts a scenario where the dashed line is a new physical link PL 3  between interface  12  of switch S 21  and interface  13  of S 31 . When the NMS 11  checks the interface status of switch S 21  or S 31  it will detect a new connection in the network. The next step is to turn the detected interface down, e.g. the interface  12 , and wait for the incoming traps, in order to discover the other peer, interface  13 , of this connection. In this case the NMS will get the traps of link down of the switches S 21  and S 31  thus discovering the new link PL 3 . 
     If the node NMS 11  gets no traps or only one, it will turn the interface up and then down for three more times. If the situation remains the method will conclude it is not a new connection case, but a new node case and will run the steps described below under the heading of “Adding and removing a node or a network segment”. 
     The removal of a link is a simpler action than adding. This is because the system NMS in the node MS 11  does not have to turn interfaces down and up, but just change the interface status to down in its database. Nevertheless, this may result in a failure if, for example, one of the removed links is part of the Data Communication Network DCN. This issue and others related are discussed in details below under the heading of “Robustness and Interoperability”. 
     Adding and Removing a Node or a Network Segment 
     When the process PTDP can not get the two right corresponding traps during the link addition phase it will conclude that this connection leads to a new node added to the network. This node may be connected just to the already discovered network or may be part of a new network segment. In both cases the process PTDP discovers the new topology. 
     The first step is to add the interface which leads to this new node to the DCN. Because every new node must follow the assumptions described under the heading of “Requirements and Assumptions”, the system NMS is able to access the new node via the DCN. The next step is to run all the initialization process again, but only for the new elements found. The system NMS sends a broadcast ping, gets the new addresses, discovers the spanning tree, configures the DCN to mach the loop free connection, disables the XSTP and discovers the blocked interfaces, exactly as described under the heading of “Initialization time”. 
     In order to detect the removal of a node the system NMS always pings the element before getting the status of the interfaces. If it gets no reply it will try to ping it again for three more times, if still no reply is received then the discovery method will remove the node and all its connection from the topology. 
       FIG. 7  shows a typical scenario of a segment addition. To the network NW 2  of  FIG. 6  is added a network segment NWS 2  which consists of the dashed nodes and links, representing elements to be discovered. The elements are switches S 51 , S 61  and S 71 , a router R 51  and physical links PL 4 . 
     The complete flowchart of the on-the-fly method is depicted in  FIG. 8  with reference to the network NW 2  in  FIG. 6  and the network segment NWS 2  in  FIG. 7 . The method starts in a block  801  and in a block  802  one of the nodes is selected. A ping message is sent to the selected node in a block  803  and in a block  804  it is investigated if a reply is received. In a no alternative N it is investigated in a block  805  if it is the third trial with the previously selected node. In a no alternative N the method goes back to this previously selected node. In a yes alternative Y in block  805  the node and its connection are removed and the method selects another node in block  802 . If in block  804  a yes alternative Y is the correct choice the method gets the status of the interface in a block  807 . In block  808  is noted that each interface should be included. In a block  809  is investigated if the interface status has changed. In a no alternative N it is investigated in a block  810  whether it is the last interface of the node. In a no alternative N next interface of the node is taken in the block  808  and in a yes alternative next node of the network is taken in block  802 . In a yes alternative Y in block  809  the interface status is changed in the database in a block  811 . In a block  812  it is investigated if the interface is down. In a yes alternative Y the relevant connection is removed in a block  813  and the method proceeds with block  810  as described. In a no alternative N in block  812  the interface is turned first down and then up in a block  814 . After having waited it is investigated in a block  815  whether traps are received. In a yes alternative Y the connection is added in a block  816  and the method takes the step in block  810  as described. In a no alternative N in block  815  it is investigated if it is the third trial with the interface in a block  817 . In a no alternative N block  814  is repeated and in a yes alternative Y the current interface is included in a block  818  by the NMS in the node NMS 11  in the present embodiment. The network segment NWS 2  is then examined like the network NW 2 . In a block  819  the node discovery is run, in a block  820  the tree discovery is run and in a block  821  the blocked faces discovery is run. The method then proceeds with next node in block  802 . 
     Robustness and Interoperability 
     Failures might occur during the execution of the mechanism of discovering physical topology, which may prevent it from calculating the complete topology. In the following will be described countermeasures that can be implemented to deal with such failures. 
     Missing Messages 
     The process PTDP relies on the exchange of synchronous protocol messages, like the protocol SNMP, to get the information it needs to complete its task. If one of these messages was lost, for instance a “get reply” message, then the process PTDP would block forever waiting for the reply. In other cases, for some unknown reason, the switch in question may not send the trap when an interface goes down, resulting in the same problem—remember that the trap is expected by the process PTDP. 
     The process PTDP copes with such conditions by means of timers and retries. Basically, every time it waits for replies or traps it starts a timer. When the timer reaches a certain threshold then the process stops waiting and goes to the next step. 
     In the ping broadcast case of  FIG. 3 , the process PTDP issues a ping broadcast and waits for the timeout, registering all the arrived replies. This process is repeated for three times, with the process PTDP ignoring the replies that have already been registered. 
     In the trap reception case of  FIG. 5 , the process PTDP turns an interface off and on via the protocol SNMP and waits for the traps that should be generated by that interface as well as by the other interface at the other end of the actual link. If timeout is reached and the expected trap has not arrived, the process PTDP repeats this procedure to a maximum of three times. The reason why the trap has not arrived is that it is not generated by the corresponding switch—as it occasionally occurs for some unknown reason—or is discarded along the way. If the process PTDP still fails to receive the expected trap after those attempts then it goes to the next interface. This next interface may be the one at the other end of the link, in which case there is another chance that a previously tried interface generates a trap that is received by PTDP. Therefore, the method is robust. 
     Even if an interface was not discovered during the initialization phase, it still could be during network operation time when the process PTDP enters in the on-the-fly time loop topology discovery. 
     Removing Elements 
     Removal may be a serious problem when the Data Communication Network DCN is composed by the regular links of the network (in-band DCN approach). The removal of a link, for example, may cause a break on the communication among the Network Management System NMS and several other elements. Besides, failure handle protocols, like FHP, will treat this removal like a link failure. 
     The main focus of the process PTDP is to discover the complete physical topology of a layer two L2 network and the addition of new elements during its operation. Even being capable of removal detection, the right procedure to remove any network element is to schedule it before the execution. First of all the network manager should stop the process PDTP, manually remove the elements on the database in order to match it with the new topology, and then start the process PTDP again. However this time the process PDTP will not run the initialization time, but use the database information to assemble the physical topology. After this the process will keep running the on-the-fly time loop aiming to discover new changes. 
     Tests 
     Several physical topologies have been experimentally investigated on a testbed network. Each topology was tested tens of times to stress the process PTDP and to get a higher confidence in the average convergence time of the mechanism. An automated test software has been developed for this purpose. 
       FIG. 9  shows one of the physical topologies, a network NW 3 , which has been implemented in the testbed. This topology consists of two D-link DES-3526 switches S 12 , S 22  and six Extreme Summit-200 switches S 32 , S 42 , S 52 , S 62 , S 72 , S 82  plus three Linux Intel-based PC routers R 12 , R 22 , R 32  and a management node NMS 12 . This topology contains many loops, which makes it more difficult for the mechanism to determine the physical topology of the network. 
     The mechanism in the present description successfully passed all the tests, taking in the average approximately 3 minutes to both identify the nodes and determine the physical topology during its initialization time. After the topology discovery was done the method started checking all nodes cyclically in order to get new modifications, once more the mechanism successfully detected the addition and removal of links, nodes and network segments during the normal operation of the network. 
     Arrangement to Perform the Method 
     An embodiment of an arrangement to perform the above described method is shown in  FIG. 10 . The arrangement includes the management node  120  equipped with the Network Management System NMS and a topology server  121 . The arrangement also includes nodes N 1 , N 2  and N 3  which can be connected to the management node  120 . Each of the nodes N 1 , N 2  and N 3  has a spanning tree protocol xSTP device  122  connected to an address forwarding table AFT  123 , which in turn is connected to a Bridge Management Information Base MIB  124 . This is in turn connected to a MIB-II  125  and a Simple Network Management Protocol SNMP device  126 . The management node  120  is connected to the xSTP device  122  via telnet and also connected to the SNMP device  126 . The xSTP device is used not only to avoid the possible loops in the layer two network but to populate the address forwarding table AFT too. The AFT information is stored in the bridge MIB  124  and is received by the NMS through SNMP “get” commands. The NMS is able to turn on and off the XSTP using telnet commands. A link  127  to a switch in a managed network is also shown.