A Physical Topology Discovery Method Based on AFTs of
Down Constraint
Bin Zhang1,
Xingchun Diao2, Donghong Qin3, Yi Liu4, and
Yun Yu2
1Cyberspace Security Research Center, Pengcheng
Laboratory, China
2Nanjing
Telecommunication Technology Research Institute, China
3School
of Information Science and Engineering, GuangXi University for Nationalities,
China
4National Innovation
Institute of Defense Technology, Beijing, China
Abstract: Network physical topology discovery is the key issue for network
management and application, the physical topology discovery based on Address Forwarding
Table (AFT) is a hot topic on current study. This paper defines three
constraints of AFTs, and proposes a tree chopping algorithm based on AFTs satisfying
down constraint, which can discover the physical topology of a subnet
accurately. The proposed algorithm decreases the demand for AFT integrity
dramatically, and is the loosest constraint for discovering physical topology
which just relies on AFTs of down ports. The proposed algorithm can also be
used in the switch domain of multiple subnets.
Keywords: Physical topology discovery, address
forwarding table, network management.
