diff --git a/protocols/lisp/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/lisp/ctl/AbstractLispRouter.java b/protocols/lisp/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/lisp/ctl/AbstractLispRouter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8e24c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/protocols/lisp/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/lisp/ctl/AbstractLispRouter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-present 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.lisp.ctl;
+
+import io.netty.channel.Channel;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
+import org.onosproject.lisp.msg.protocols.LispMessage;
+import org.onosproject.net.Device;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.net.SocketAddress;
+
+/**
+ * An abstract representation of a LISP router.
+ * This class can be extended by others to serve as a base for their vendor
+ * specific representation of a router.
+ */
+public abstract class AbstractLispRouter implements LispRouter {
+
+    private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
+
+    private static final String DROP_MESSAGE_WARN =
+                    "Drop message {} destined to router {} as channel is closed.";
+
+    private Channel channel;
+    private String channelId;
+
+    private boolean connected;
+    private boolean subscribed;
+    private LispRouterId routerId;
+    private LispRouterAgent agent;
+
+    /**
+     * A default constructor.
+     *
+     * @param routerId router identifier
+     */
+    AbstractLispRouter(LispRouterId routerId) {
+        this.routerId = routerId;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final String channelId() {
+        return channelId;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final IpAddress routerId() {
+        return routerId.id();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final String stringId() {
+        return routerId.toString();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final void setChannel(Channel channel) {
+        this.channel = channel;
+        final SocketAddress address = channel.remoteAddress();
+        if (address instanceof InetSocketAddress) {
+            final InetSocketAddress inetAddress = (InetSocketAddress) address;
+            final IpAddress ipAddress = IpAddress.valueOf(inetAddress.getAddress());
+            if (ipAddress.isIp4()) {
+                channelId = ipAddress.toString() + ':' + inetAddress.getPort();
+            } else {
+                channelId = '[' + ipAddress.toString() + "]:" + inetAddress.getPort();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final void setConnected(boolean connected) {
+        this.connected = connected;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final boolean isConnected() {
+        return connected;
+    }
+
+
+    @Override
+    public final boolean isSubscribed() {
+        return subscribed;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final void setSubscribed(boolean subscribed) {
+        this.subscribed = subscribed;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final void setAgent(LispRouterAgent agent) {
+        // we never assign the agent more than one time
+        if (this.agent == null) {
+            this.agent = agent;
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final Device.Type deviceType() {
+        return Device.Type.ROUTER;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void sendMessage(LispMessage message) {
+        if (channel.isOpen()) {
+            // TODO: need to consider to use writeAndFlush if possible
+            channel.write(message);
+            agent.processDownstreamMessage(routerId, message);
+        } else {
+            log.warn(DROP_MESSAGE_WARN, message, routerId);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void handleMessage(LispMessage message) {
+        this.agent.processUpstreamMessage(routerId, message);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final boolean connectRouter() {
+        return this.agent.addConnectedRouter(routerId, this);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public final void disconnectRouter() {
+        setConnected(false);
+        channel.close();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        sb.append(this.getClass().getName());
+
+        String address = (channel != null) ? channel.remoteAddress().toString() : "?";
+        String routerId = (stringId() != null) ? stringId() : "?";
+
+        sb.append(" [");
+        sb.append(address);
+        sb.append(" routerId[");
+        sb.append(routerId);
+        sb.append("]]");
+
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/protocols/lisp/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/lisp/ctl/DefaultLispRouter.java b/protocols/lisp/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/lisp/ctl/DefaultLispRouter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05b3662
--- /dev/null
+++ b/protocols/lisp/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/lisp/ctl/DefaultLispRouter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-present 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.lisp.ctl;
+
+/**
+ * A default implementation LispRouter class.
+ */
+public class DefaultLispRouter extends AbstractLispRouter implements LispRouter {
+
+    /**
+     * A default constructor.
+     *
+     * @param routerId router identifier
+     */
+    DefaultLispRouter(LispRouterId routerId) {
+        super(routerId);
+    }
+}