diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/resource/Resource.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/resource/Resource.java
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+/*
+ * Copyright 2015-2016 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.net.resource;
+
+import com.google.common.annotations.Beta;
+
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+/**
+ * An object that represent a resource in a network.
+ * A Resource can represents path-like hierarchical structure with its ID. An ID of resource is
+ * composed of a sequence of elementary resources that are not globally identifiable. A Resource
+ * can be globally identifiable by its ID.
+ *
+ * Two types of resource are considered. One is discrete type and the other is continuous type.
+ * Discrete type resource is a resource whose amount is measured as a discrete unit. VLAN ID and
+ * MPLS label are examples of discrete type resource. Continuous type resource is a resource whose
+ * amount is measured as a continuous value. Bandwidth is an example of continuous type resource.
+ * A double value is associated with a continuous type value.
+ *
+ * Users of this class must keep the semantics of resources regarding the hierarchical structure.
+ * For example, resource, Device:1/Port:1/VLAN ID:100, is valid, but resource,
+ * VLAN ID:100/Device:1/Port:1 is not valid because a link is not a sub-component of a VLAN ID.
+ */
+@Beta
+public interface Resource {
+
+    DiscreteResource ROOT = new DiscreteResource();
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the ID of this resource.
+     *
+     * @return the ID of this resource
+     */
+    ResourceId id();
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the simple type name of this resource.
+     *
+     * Example:<br>
+     * Resource: DeviceId:1/PortNumber:1/VlanId:200<br>
+     * Simple type name: VlanId<br>
+     *
+     * @return the simple type name of this resource
+     */
+    String simpleTypeName();
+
+    /**
+     * Checks if the type of this instance is the specified type.
+     *
+     * @param type type of resource to be checked
+     * @return true if this resource is the type of the specified type. Otherwise, false.
+     */
+    boolean isTypeOf(Class<?> type);
+
+    /**
+     * Checks if the type of this instance is the sub-type of the specified type.
+     *
+     * @param ancestor type of resource to be checked.
+     * @return true if this resource is under the resource whose type is the given type.
+     */
+    boolean isSubTypeOf(Class<?> ancestor);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns value interpreted as the specified type. If the specified type is
+     * incompatible with the underlying value, an empty instance is returned.
+     *
+     * @param type class instance specifying the type of return value
+     * @param <T> type of the return value
+     * @return the value of this resource as the specified type. If type mismatches,
+     * returns an empty instance.
+     */
+    <T> Optional<T> valueAs(Class<T> type);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the parent resource of this instance.
+     * E.g. if this resource is Link:1/VLAN ID:100, the return value is the resource for Link:1.
+     *
+     * @return the parent resource of this instance.
+     * If there is no parent, empty instance will be returned.
+     */
+    Optional<DiscreteResource> parent();
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a child resource of this instance with specifying the child object.
+     * It is not allowed that a continuous type resource has a child. If the instance is
+     * ContinuousResource, {@link UnsupportedOperationException} is thrown. If the given
+     * object is a {@link Class} instance, {@link IllegalArgumentException} is thrown.
+     *
+     * @param child child object
+     * @return a child resource
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the given object is a {@link Class} instance.
+     */
+    DiscreteResource child(Object child);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a child resource of this instance with specifying a child object and
+     * value. It is not allowed that a continuous type resource has a child. If the instance is
+     * ContinuousResource, {@link UnsupportedOperationException} is thrown.
+     *
+     * @param child child object
+     * @param value value
+     * @return a child resource
+     */
+    ContinuousResource child(Class<?> child, double value);
+}