diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/behaviour/PortDiscovery.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/behaviour/PortDiscovery.java
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+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/behaviour/PortDiscovery.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ *
+ *  * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *  *
+ *  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *  *
+ *  *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *  *
+ *  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  * limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.net.behaviour;
+
+import org.onosproject.net.device.PortDescription;
+import org.onosproject.net.driver.HandlerBehaviour;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Discovers the set of ports from a device through a device specific protocol.
+ * The returned ports are not retrieved from the information stored in ONOS.
+ */
+public interface PortDiscovery extends HandlerBehaviour {
+
+    /**
+     * Retrieves the set of ports from a device.
+     * @return a set of port descriptions.
+     */
+    List<PortDescription> getPorts();
+}
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