diff --git a/providers/lldp/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/lldp/impl/LLDPLinkProvider.java b/providers/lldp/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/lldp/impl/LLDPLinkProvider.java
index 57c1e7a..9350410 100644
--- a/providers/lldp/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/lldp/impl/LLDPLinkProvider.java
+++ b/providers/lldp/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/lldp/impl/LLDPLinkProvider.java
@@ -15,18 +15,9 @@
  */
 package org.onosproject.provider.lldp.impl;
 
-import static java.util.concurrent.Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor;
-import static org.onlab.util.Tools.namedThreads;
-import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
-
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Dictionary;
-import java.util.EnumSet;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
-import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
-
+import com.google.common.base.Strings;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Activate;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Component;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Deactivate;
@@ -61,9 +52,17 @@
 import org.osgi.service.component.ComponentContext;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 
-import com.google.common.base.Strings;
-import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
-import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Dictionary;
+import java.util.EnumSet;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
+
+import static java.util.concurrent.Executors.newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor;
+import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.SECONDS;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.groupedThreads;
+import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
 
 
 /**
@@ -161,9 +160,8 @@
             }
         }
 
-        executor = newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor(namedThreads("onos-device-sync-%d"));
-        executor.scheduleAtFixedRate(new SyncDeviceInfoTask(), INIT_DELAY,
-                DELAY, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        executor = newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor(groupedThreads("onos/device", "sync-%d"));
+        executor.scheduleAtFixedRate(new SyncDeviceInfoTask(), INIT_DELAY, DELAY, SECONDS);
 
         requestPackets();
 
diff --git a/providers/null/device/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/device/impl/NullDeviceProvider.java b/providers/null/device/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/device/impl/NullDeviceProvider.java
index d18ba5a..fc59111 100644
--- a/providers/null/device/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/device/impl/NullDeviceProvider.java
+++ b/providers/null/device/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/device/impl/NullDeviceProvider.java
@@ -15,11 +15,8 @@
  */
 package org.onosproject.provider.nil.device.impl;
 
-import static com.google.common.base.Strings.isNullOrEmpty;
-
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
-
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Activate;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Component;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Deactivate;
@@ -56,9 +53,8 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
-import static org.onlab.util.Tools.delay;
-import static org.onlab.util.Tools.namedThreads;
-import static org.onlab.util.Tools.toHex;
+import static com.google.common.base.Strings.isNullOrEmpty;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.*;
 import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
 
 /**
@@ -79,8 +75,8 @@
 
     private DeviceProviderService providerService;
 
-    private ExecutorService deviceBuilder = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(1,
-                                                     namedThreads("onos-null-device-creator"));
+    private ExecutorService deviceBuilder =
+            Executors.newFixedThreadPool(1, groupedThreads("onos/null", "device-creator"));
 
 
     //currently hardcoded. will be made configurable via rest/cli.
diff --git a/providers/null/link/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/link/impl/NullLinkProvider.java b/providers/null/link/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/link/impl/NullLinkProvider.java
index c0a3d06..2f5939a 100644
--- a/providers/null/link/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/link/impl/NullLinkProvider.java
+++ b/providers/null/link/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/link/impl/NullLinkProvider.java
@@ -15,22 +15,9 @@
  */
 package org.onosproject.provider.nil.link.impl;
 
-import static com.google.common.base.Strings.isNullOrEmpty;
-import static org.onlab.util.Tools.namedThreads;
-import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
-import static org.onlab.util.Tools.toHex;
-import static org.onosproject.net.MastershipRole.MASTER;
-
-import java.util.Dictionary;
-import java.util.Iterator;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.Objects;
-import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
-import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
-import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
-
+import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
+import com.google.common.collect.Sets;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.concurrent.ConcurrentUtils;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Activate;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Component;
@@ -63,9 +50,21 @@
 import org.osgi.service.component.ComponentContext;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 
-import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
-import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
-import com.google.common.collect.Sets;
+import java.util.Dictionary;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Strings.isNullOrEmpty;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.groupedThreads;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.toHex;
+import static org.onosproject.net.MastershipRole.MASTER;
+import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
 
 /**
  * Provider which advertises fake/nonexistent links to the core. To be used for
@@ -114,8 +113,8 @@
 
     private final int checkRateDuration = 10;
 
-    private ExecutorService linkDriver = Executors.newCachedThreadPool(
-            namedThreads("onos-null-link-driver-%d"));
+    private ExecutorService linkDriver =
+            Executors.newCachedThreadPool(groupedThreads("onos/null", "link-driver-%d"));
 
     // For flicker = true, duration between events in msec.
     @Property(name = "eventRate", value = "0",
diff --git a/providers/null/packet/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/packet/impl/NullPacketProvider.java b/providers/null/packet/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/packet/impl/NullPacketProvider.java
index ddf57be..82f6ace 100644
--- a/providers/null/packet/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/packet/impl/NullPacketProvider.java
+++ b/providers/null/packet/src/main/java/org/onosproject/provider/nil/packet/impl/NullPacketProvider.java
@@ -15,17 +15,6 @@
  */
 package org.onosproject.provider.nil.packet.impl;
 
-import static com.google.common.base.Strings.isNullOrEmpty;
-import static org.onlab.util.Tools.delay;
-import static org.onlab.util.Tools.namedThreads;
-import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
-
-import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
-import java.util.Dictionary;
-import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
-import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
-
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Activate;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Component;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Deactivate;
@@ -52,6 +41,17 @@
 import org.osgi.service.component.ComponentContext;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.util.Dictionary;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Strings.isNullOrEmpty;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.delay;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.groupedThreads;
+import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
+
 /**
  * Provider which 1) intercepts network-bound messages from the core, and 2)
  * generates PacketEvents at some tunable rate. To be used for benchmarking
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@
             label = "Rate of PacketEvent generation")
     private int pktRate = DEFAULT_RATE;
 
-    private ExecutorService packetDriver = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(1,
-            namedThreads("onos-null-packet-driver"));
+    private ExecutorService packetDriver =
+            Executors.newFixedThreadPool(1, groupedThreads("onos/null", "packet-driver"));
 
     public NullPacketProvider() {
         super(new ProviderId("null", "org.onosproject.provider.nil"));