Progressively determining a network topology and using neighbor information to determine network topology

A network comprising:

• a plurality of network elements, individual network elements being directly connected to at least one other of the network elements;
• a plurality of links, individual links directly connecting two of the network elements together and enabling the two directly connected network elements to communicate with each other;
• the individual network elements being configured to provide connectivity information describing their neighboring elements, of the plurality of network elements, to which the individual network elements are directly connected and describing the individual links that directly connect the individual network elements to their neighboring elements the individual network elements being configured to gather the connectivity information from their neighboring elements using at least two different layer-two control protocols;
• and
• an element manager configured to:
• gather the connectivity information from the network elements;
• determine an address of a second element of the plurality of network elements from a portion of the connectivity information gathered from a first element of the plurality, the second element being directly connected to the first element, the first element providing a first element topology;
• and
• use the address determined by the element manager to gather a portion of the connectivity information from the second element comprising a second element topology;
• and
• create a network topology based on the gathered connectivity information comprising the first element topology and the second element topology, the network topology describing the network elements, the links, and an arrangement of the links with respect to the network elements;
• wherein the first element topology comprising compiled information compiled by the first element, the compiled information resulting from layer-two (data link layer) communication using at least two different layer-two control protocols between the first element and the elements of the plurality directly connected to the first element;
• wherein the compiled information comprises first information describing a first one of the other elements directly connected to the first element, the first information resulting from layer-two communication using a first layer-two control protocol between the first element and the first one of the other elements directly connected to the first element;
• and
• the compiled information comprises second information describing a second one of the other elements directly connected to the first element, the second information resulting from layer-two communication using a second layer-two control protocol between the first element and the second one of the other elements directly connected to the first element.

An element manager operating method comprising:

• the element manager collecting a first element topology from a first element among a plurality of elements in a network, the first element topology describing connections between the first element and other elements of the plurality directly connected to the first element;
• the element manager determining an address of a second element of the plurality of elements from the first element topology, the second element being one of the other elements of the plurality directly connected to the first element;
• using the address determined by the element manager, the element manager collecting a second element topology from the second element among the plurality of elements, the second element topology describing connections between the second element and other elements of the plurality directly connected to the second element;
• the element manager merging the element topologies collected from the elements into a single network topology describing connections between the plurality of elements;
• wherein the first element topology comprising compiled information compiled by the first element, the compiled information resulting from layer-two (data link layer) communication using at least two different layer-two control protocols between the first element and the elements of the plurality directly connected to the first element;
• receiving first connection information describing a connection between a third element of the plurality of elements and a fourth element of the plurality of elements from the third element, the third element being one of the other elements of the plurality directly connected to the first element, the fourth element being directly connected to the third element;
• first determining that the first connection information satisfies a condition;
• based on the first determining, adding the fourth element to a list of elements awaiting neighbor discovery;
• receiving second connection information describing a connection between the third element and a fifth element of the plurality of elements from the third element, the fifth element being directly connected to the third element;
• and
• second determining that the second connection information does not satisfy the condition;
• based on the second determining, excluding the fifth element from the list of elements awaiting neighbor discovery.