diff --git a/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/PipeconfHelper.java b/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/PipeconfHelper.java
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/protocols/p4runtime/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/p4runtime/ctl/PipeconfHelper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017-present 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.p4runtime.ctl;
+
+import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
+import com.google.protobuf.ExtensionRegistry;
+import com.google.protobuf.TextFormat;
+import org.onosproject.net.pi.model.PiPipeconf;
+import org.onosproject.net.pi.model.PiPipeconfId;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import p4.config.P4InfoOuterClass.P4Info;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import static org.onosproject.net.pi.model.PiPipeconf.ExtensionType.P4_INFO_TEXT;
+import static org.slf4j.LoggerFactory.getLogger;
+
+/**
+ * Utility class to deal with pipeconfs in the context of P4runtime.
+ */
+final class PipeconfHelper {
+
+    private static final Logger log = getLogger(PipeconfHelper.class);
+
+    // TODO: consider implementing this via a cache that expires unused browsers.
+    private static final Map<PiPipeconfId, P4InfoBrowser> BROWSERS = Maps.newConcurrentMap();
+    private static final Map<PiPipeconfId, P4Info> P4INFOS = Maps.newConcurrentMap();
+
+    private PipeconfHelper() {
+        // hide.
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Extracts and returns a P4Info protobuf message from the given pipeconf. If the pipeconf does not define any
+     * extension of type {@link PiPipeconf.ExtensionType#P4_INFO_TEXT}, returns null;
+     *
+     * @param pipeconf pipeconf
+     * @return P4Info or null
+     */
+    static P4Info getP4Info(PiPipeconf pipeconf) {
+        return P4INFOS.computeIfAbsent(pipeconf.id(), piPipeconfId -> {
+            if (!pipeconf.extension(P4_INFO_TEXT).isPresent()) {
+                log.warn("Missing P4Info extension in pipeconf {}", pipeconf.id());
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            InputStream p4InfoStream = pipeconf.extension(P4_INFO_TEXT).get();
+            P4Info.Builder p4iInfoBuilder = P4Info.newBuilder();
+            try {
+                TextFormat.getParser().merge(new InputStreamReader(p4InfoStream), ExtensionRegistry.getEmptyRegistry(),
+                                             p4iInfoBuilder);
+            } catch (IOException ex) {
+                log.warn("Unable to parse P4Info of pipeconf {}: {}", pipeconf.id(), ex.getMessage());
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            return p4iInfoBuilder.build();
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a P4Info browser for the given pipeconf. If the pipeconf does not define any extension of type
+     * {@link PiPipeconf.ExtensionType#P4_INFO_TEXT}, returns null;
+     *
+     * @param pipeconf pipeconf
+     * @return P4Info browser or null
+     */
+    static P4InfoBrowser getP4InfoBrowser(PiPipeconf pipeconf) {
+        return BROWSERS.computeIfAbsent(pipeconf.id(), (pipeconfId) -> {
+            P4Info p4info = PipeconfHelper.getP4Info(pipeconf);
+            if (p4info == null) {
+                return null;
+            } else {
+                return new P4InfoBrowser(p4info);
+            }
+        });
+    }
+}