diff --git a/bgp/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/bgp/controller/impl/BGPChannelHandler.java b/bgp/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/bgp/controller/impl/BGPChannelHandler.java
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+++ b/bgp/ctl/src/main/java/org/onosproject/bgp/controller/impl/BGPChannelHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * 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.bgp.controller.impl;
+
+import org.jboss.netty.handler.timeout.IdleStateAwareChannelHandler;
+
+/**
+ * Channel handler deals with the bgp peer connection and dispatches messages from peer to the appropriate locations.
+ */
+class BGPChannelHandler extends IdleStateAwareChannelHandler {
+
+    // TODO: implement FSM and session handling mechanism
+    /**
+     * Create a new unconnected BGPChannelHandler.
+     *
+     * @param bgpCtrlImpl bgp controller implementation object
+     */
+    BGPChannelHandler(BGPControllerImpl bgpCtrlImpl) {
+    }
+}
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