diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/packet/PacketProcessor.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/packet/PacketProcessor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a53a08c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/packet/PacketProcessor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package org.onlab.onos.net.packet;
+
+/**
+ * Abstraction of an inbound packet processor.
+ */
+public interface PacketProcessor {
+
+    /**
+     * Processes the inbound packet as specified in the given context.
+     *
+     * @param context packet processing context
+     */
+    void process(PacketContext context);
+
+}