diff --git a/of/lib/src/main/java/org/projectfloodlight/openflow/protocol/OFMessageReader.java b/of/lib/src/main/java/org/projectfloodlight/openflow/protocol/OFMessageReader.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8837867
--- /dev/null
+++ b/of/lib/src/main/java/org/projectfloodlight/openflow/protocol/OFMessageReader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package org.projectfloodlight.openflow.protocol;
+
+import org.jboss.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffer;
+import org.projectfloodlight.openflow.exceptions.OFParseError;
+
+public interface OFMessageReader<T> {
+    T readFrom(ChannelBuffer bb) throws OFParseError;
+}