diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/key/DeviceKeyId.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/key/DeviceKeyId.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12c1d95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/key/DeviceKeyId.java
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+/*
+ * 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.key;
+
+import java.util.Objects;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+
+/**
+ * Device key Id definition.
+ */
+public final class DeviceKeyId {
+    private final String identifier;
+
+    /**
+     * Constructor for serialization.
+     */
+    private DeviceKeyId() {
+        this.identifier = null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Constructs the ID corresponding to a given string value.
+     *
+     * @param value the underlying value of this ID
+     */
+    private DeviceKeyId(String value) {
+        this.identifier = checkNotNull(value, "Device Key Id cannot be null.");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Static  method to construct a device key identifier.
+     *
+     * @param id for the device key identifier
+     * @return device key identifier
+     */
+    public static final DeviceKeyId deviceKeyId(String id) {
+        return new DeviceKeyId(id);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the identifier of the device key identifier.
+     *
+     * @return identifier
+     */
+    public String id() {
+        return identifier;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the hashcode of the identifier.
+     *
+     * @return hashcode
+     */
+    @Override
+    public int hashCode() {
+        return identifier.hashCode();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Compares two device key identifiers for equality.
+     *
+     * @param obj to compare against
+     * @return true if the objects are equal, false otherwise.
+     */
+    @Override
+    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
+        if (this == obj) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (obj instanceof DeviceKeyId) {
+            final DeviceKeyId that = (DeviceKeyId) obj;
+            return this.getClass() == that.getClass() &&
+                    Objects.equals(this.identifier, that.identifier);
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a string representation of a DeviceKeyId.
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public String toString() {
+        return identifier;
+    }
+}