diff --git a/protocols/rest/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/protocol/rest/RestSBController.java b/protocols/rest/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/protocol/rest/RestSBController.java
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index 0000000..28d5617
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+++ b/protocols/rest/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/protocol/rest/RestSBController.java
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 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.protocol.rest;
+
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
+import org.onosproject.net.DeviceId;
+
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+/**
+ * Abstraction of an REST controller. Serves as a one stop shop for obtaining
+ * Rest southbound devices and (un)register listeners.
+ */
+public interface RestSBController {
+
+    /**
+     * Returns all the devices known to this controller.
+     *
+     * @return map of devices
+     */
+    Map<DeviceId, RestSBDevice> getDevices();
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a device by node identifier.
+     *
+     * @param deviceInfo node identifier
+     * @return RestSBDevice rest device
+     */
+    RestSBDevice getDevice(DeviceId deviceInfo);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a device by Ip and Port.
+     *
+     * @param ip   device ip
+     * @param port device port
+     * @return RestSBDevice rest device
+     */
+    RestSBDevice getDevice(IpAddress ip, int port);
+
+    /**
+     * Adds a device to the device map.
+     *
+     * @param device to be added
+     */
+    void addDevice(RestSBDevice device);
+
+    /**
+     * Removes the device from the devices map.
+     *
+     * @param device to be removed
+     */
+    void removeDevice(RestSBDevice device);
+
+    /**
+     * Does a REST POST request with specified parameters to the device.
+     *
+     * @param device    device to make the request to
+     * @param request   url of the request
+     * @param payload   payload of the request as an InputStream
+     * @param mediaType type of content in the payload i.e. application/json
+     * @return true if operation returned 200, 201, 202, false otherwise
+     */
+    boolean post(DeviceId device, String request, InputStream payload, String mediaType);
+
+    /**
+     * Does a REST PUT request with specified parameters to the device.
+     *
+     * @param device    device to make the request to
+     * @param request   resource path of the request
+     * @param payload   payload of the request as an InputStream
+     * @param mediaType type of content in the payload i.e. application/json
+     * @return true if operation returned 200, 201, 202, false otherwise
+     */
+    boolean put(DeviceId device, String request, InputStream payload, String mediaType);
+
+    /**
+     * Does a REST GET request with specified parameters to the device.
+     *
+     * @param device  device to make the request to
+     * @param request url of the request
+     * @param mediaType format to retrieve the content in
+     * @return an inputstream of data from the reply.
+     */
+    InputStream get(DeviceId device, String request, String mediaType);
+
+    /**
+     * Does a REST DELETE request with specified parameters to the device.
+     *
+     * @param device    device to make the request to
+     * @param request   url of the request
+     * @param payload   payload of the request as an InputStream
+     * @param mediaType type of content in the payload i.e. application/json
+     * @return true if operation returned 200 false otherwise
+     */
+    boolean delete(DeviceId device, String request, InputStream payload, String mediaType);
+
+}