2009/07/17 by Kamal Ahmat, Ahmat, Kamal
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Multimedia Communication and Technology #Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI) #Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies #Video Analysis and Summarization
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0907.3095
openalex publication_date 2009/07/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Ethernet networks have undergone impressive growth since the past few decades. This growth can be appreciated in terms of the equipment, such as switches and links, that have been added, as well as in the number of users that it supports. In parallel to this expansion, over the past decade the networking research community has shown a growing interest in discovering and analyzing the Ethernet topology. Research in this area has concentrated on the theoretical analysis of Ethernet topology as well as developing tools and methods for mapping the network layout. These efforts have brought us to a crucial juncture for Ethernet topology measurement infrastructures: while, previously, these were both small (in terms of number of measurement points), we are starting to see the deployment of large-scale distributed systems composed of hundreds or thousands of monitors. As we look forward to this next generation of systems, we take stock of what has been achieved so far. In this survey, we discuss past and current mechanisms for discovering the Ethernet topology from theoretical and practical prospective. In addition to discovery techniques, we provide insights into some of the well known open issues related to Ethernet topology discovery.