diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/table/DefaultCellComparator.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/table/DefaultCellComparator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c27be61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/table/DefaultCellComparator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 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.ui.table;
+
+/**
+ * A default cell comparator. Implements a lexicographical compare function
+ * (i.e. string sorting). Uses the objects' toString() method and then
+ * compares the resulting strings. Note that null values are acceptable and
+ * are considered "smaller" than any non-null value.
+ */
+public class DefaultCellComparator implements CellComparator {
+    @Override
+    public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
+        if (o1 == null && o2 == null) {
+            return 0;       // o1 == o2
+        }
+        if (o1 == null) {
+            return -1;      // o1 < o2
+        }
+        if (o2 == null) {
+            return 1;       // o1 > o2
+        }
+        return o1.toString().compareTo(o2.toString());
+    }
+}