diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/resource/ResourceId.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/resource/ResourceId.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00722c0
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+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/resource/ResourceId.java
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+ * 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.net.resource;
+
+import com.google.common.annotations.Beta;
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+/**
+ * Represents identifier of resource.
+ */
+@Beta
+public abstract class ResourceId {
+    static final DiscreteResourceId ROOT = new DiscreteResourceId();
+
+    abstract ImmutableList<Object> components();
+
+    abstract String simpleTypeName();
+
+    // caller must pass a non-null value
+    abstract boolean isTypeOf(Class<?> type);
+
+    // caller must pass a non-null value
+    abstract boolean isSubTypeOf(Class<?> ancestor);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the parent resource ID of this instance.
+     *
+     * @return the parent resource ID of this instance.
+     * If there is no parent, empty instance will be returned.
+     */
+    public abstract Optional<DiscreteResourceId> parent();
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a resource ID of a child of this resource based on the specified object.
+     * If the given object is a {@link Class} instance, {@link IllegalArgumentException} is thrown.
+     *
+     * @param child the last component of the child
+     * @return a child resource ID
+     */
+    public abstract DiscreteResourceId child(Object child);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns a resource ID of a child of this resource based on the specified object.
+     *
+     * @param child the last component of the child
+     * @return a child resource ID
+     */
+    public abstract ContinuousResourceId child(Class<?> child);
+}