diff --git a/openflow/ctl/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/of/controller/impl/OpenflowPipelineFactory.java b/openflow/ctl/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/of/controller/impl/OpenflowPipelineFactory.java
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/openflow/ctl/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/of/controller/impl/OpenflowPipelineFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/**
+*    Copyright 2011, Big Switch Networks, Inc.
+*    Originally created by David Erickson, Stanford University
+*
+*    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.onlab.onos.of.controller.impl;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor;
+
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.ChannelPipeline;
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.ChannelPipelineFactory;
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.Channels;
+import org.jboss.netty.handler.execution.ExecutionHandler;
+import org.jboss.netty.handler.timeout.IdleStateHandler;
+import org.jboss.netty.handler.timeout.ReadTimeoutHandler;
+import org.jboss.netty.util.ExternalResourceReleasable;
+import org.jboss.netty.util.HashedWheelTimer;
+import org.jboss.netty.util.Timer;
+
+/**
+ * Creates a ChannelPipeline for a server-side openflow channel.
+ */
+public class OpenflowPipelineFactory
+    implements ChannelPipelineFactory, ExternalResourceReleasable {
+
+    protected Controller controller;
+    protected ThreadPoolExecutor pipelineExecutor;
+    protected Timer timer;
+    protected IdleStateHandler idleHandler;
+    protected ReadTimeoutHandler readTimeoutHandler;
+
+    public OpenflowPipelineFactory(Controller controller,
+                                   ThreadPoolExecutor pipelineExecutor) {
+        super();
+        this.controller = controller;
+        this.pipelineExecutor = pipelineExecutor;
+        this.timer = new HashedWheelTimer();
+        this.idleHandler = new IdleStateHandler(timer, 20, 25, 0);
+        this.readTimeoutHandler = new ReadTimeoutHandler(timer, 30);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public ChannelPipeline getPipeline() throws Exception {
+        OFChannelHandler handler = new OFChannelHandler(controller);
+
+        ChannelPipeline pipeline = Channels.pipeline();
+        pipeline.addLast("ofmessagedecoder", new OFMessageDecoder());
+        pipeline.addLast("ofmessageencoder", new OFMessageEncoder());
+        pipeline.addLast("idle", idleHandler);
+        pipeline.addLast("timeout", readTimeoutHandler);
+        // XXX S ONOS: was 15 increased it to fix Issue #296
+        pipeline.addLast("handshaketimeout",
+                         new HandshakeTimeoutHandler(handler, timer, 60));
+        if (pipelineExecutor != null) {
+            pipeline.addLast("pipelineExecutor",
+                             new ExecutionHandler(pipelineExecutor));
+        }
+        pipeline.addLast("handler", handler);
+        return pipeline;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void releaseExternalResources() {
+        timer.stop();
+    }
+}