diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/core/IdGenerator.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/core/IdGenerator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb8953b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/core/IdGenerator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package org.onlab.onos.core;
+
+/**
+ * A generalized interface for ID generation
+ *
+ * {@link #getNewId()} generates a globally unique ID instance on
+ * each invocation.
+ */
+public interface IdGenerator {
+    /**
+     * Returns a globally unique ID instance.
+     *
+     * @return globally unique ID instance
+     */
+    long getNewId();
+}