Discovery of conventional devices and bridges in hybrid communication networks

A method comprising:

• determining, at a first network device of a first class of network devices, that the first network device is communicatively located adjacent to a second network device of a second class of network devices in a communication network based, at least in part, on detecting a packet from the second network device that does not include a tag associated with the first class of network devices;
• transmitting a probe message from the first network device to the second network device;
• determining whether the probe message was detected by a third network device of the first class of network devices;
• and
• determining that a first network segment associated with the first network device is communicatively coupled to a second network segment associated with the third network device via a network bridge device of the second class of network devices in response to determining that the probe message was not detected by the third network device.

A first network device of a first class of network devices, the first network device comprising:

• a network interface;
• and
• a device detection unit coupled with the network interface, the device detection unit operable to:
• determine that the first network device is communicatively located adjacent to a second network device of a second class of network devices in a communication network based, at least in part, on detecting a packet from the second network device that does not include a tag associated with the first class of network devices;
• transmit, via the network interface, a probe message from the first network device to the second network device;
• determine whether the probe message was detected by a third network device of the first class of network devices;
• and
• determine that a first network segment associated with the first network device is communicatively coupled to a second network segment associated with the third network device via a network bridge device of the second class of network devices in response to the device detection unit determining that the probe message was not detected by the third network device.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor of a first network device of a first class of network devices, cause the first network device to:

• detect a packet originating from a second network device of a second class of network devices, the packet not including a tag associated with the first class of network devices;
• determine that the second network device is communicatively located adjacent to the first network device based, at least in part, on detecting that the packet does not include the tag;
• transmit a probe message from the first network device to the second network device;
• determine whether the probe message was detected by a third network device of the first class of network devices;
• and
• determine that a first network segment associated with the first network device is communicatively coupled to a second network segment associated with the third network device via a network bridge device of the second class of network devices in response to determining that the probe message was not detected by the third network device.