Patent ID: 7738397

Claim:
A method, comprising: generating local topology information including information on local interfaces in a local device and remote interfaces in at least one downstream remote device that connect to the local interfaces identified in the local topology information, wherein the at least one downstream remote device comprises an end device or expander connecting to further end devices or expanders to which the local interfaces connect, wherein the local device is directly connected to the remote device, and wherein the local device, remote device, and other downstream devices directly and indirectly attached to the remote device are connected using a serial network technology; for each connected remote interface, determining a device type of the downstream remote device including the remote interface; and for each local interface attached to one remote interface in one of the downstream remote devices whose determined device type is of a specified device type, initiating communication with the remote interface to access remote topology information from the downstream remote device indicating downstream devices attached directly and indirectly to the remote device, wherein the downstream devices with respect to the remote device comprise an end device or expander connecting to further end devices or expanders to which the remote device connects, and wherein the communication with the remote device to access the remote topology information comprises sending only one discovery request to the remote device to cause the remote device to gather the remote topology information indicating downstream devices attached directly and indirectly to the remote device, to periodically check whether the gathering of the remote topology information has completed, and to return the remote topology information to the local interface in response to determining that the gathering has completed.