A transport software defined networking (SDN) controller, comprising: a receiver configured to receive a first advertisement message from a first physical layer network element, NE, and a second advertisement message from a second physical layer NE, the first advertisement message indicating a mapping between a first port of the first physical layer NE and a first network layer NE, and the second advertisement message indicating a mapping between a second port of the second physical layer NE and a second network layer NE; and a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to: determine a relationship between a logical topology and a physical topology based on the first and second advertisement messages from the first and second physical layer NEs; inspect a header of the network layer link aggregation group, LAG, request, the request indicating a first network layer NE is requesting modification of a LAG with a second network layer NE; and modify a physical layer connection between the first port adjacent to the first network layer NE and the second port adjacent to the second network layer NE to implement the requested LAG modification based on the relationship between the physical topology and the logical topology and based on the inspected network layer LAG request. a receiver configured to receive a first advertisement message from a first physical layer network element, NE, and a second advertisement message from a second physical layer NE, the first advertisement message indicating a mapping between a first port of the first physical layer NE and a first network layer NE, and the second advertisement message indicating a mapping between a second port of the second physical layer NE and a second network layer NE; and a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to: determine a relationship between a logical topology and a physical topology based on the first and second advertisement messages from the first and second physical layer NEs; inspect a header of the network layer link aggregation group, LAG, request, the request indicating a first network layer NE is requesting modification of a LAG with a second network layer NE; and modify a physical layer connection between the first port adjacent to the first network layer NE and the second port adjacent to the second network layer NE to implement the requested LAG modification based on the relationship between the physical topology and the logical topology and based on the inspected network layer LAG request. determine a relationship between a logical topology and a physical topology based on the first and second advertisement messages from the first and second physical layer NEs; inspect a header of the network layer link aggregation group, LAG, request, the request indicating a first network layer NE is requesting modification of a LAG with a second network layer NE; and modify a physical layer connection between the first port adjacent to the first network layer NE and the second port adjacent to the second network layer NE to implement the requested LAG modification based on the relationship between the physical topology and the logical topology and based on the inspected network layer LAG request. <EOS>