diff --git a/src/main/java/net/onrc/onos/core/topology/SwitchEvent.java b/src/main/java/net/onrc/onos/core/topology/SwitchEvent.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b36eba2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/net/onrc/onos/core/topology/SwitchEvent.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package net.onrc.onos.core.topology;
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+
+/**
+ * Self-contained Switch Object
+ *
+ * TODO: We probably want common base class/interface for Self-Contained Event Object
+ *
+ */
+public class SwitchEvent {
+    protected final Long dpid;
+
+    /**
+     * Default constructor for Serializer to use.
+     */
+    @Deprecated
+    public SwitchEvent() {
+	dpid = null;
+    }
+
+    public SwitchEvent(Long dpid) {
+	this.dpid = dpid;
+    }
+
+    public Long getDpid() {
+	return dpid;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+	return "[SwitchEvent 0x" + Long.toHexString(dpid) + "]";
+    }
+
+    public static final int SWITCHID_BYTES = 2 + 8;
+
+    public static ByteBuffer getSwitchID(Long dpid) {
+	if (dpid == null) {
+	    throw new IllegalArgumentException("dpid cannot be null");
+	}
+	return (ByteBuffer) ByteBuffer.allocate(SwitchEvent.SWITCHID_BYTES).putChar('S').putLong(dpid).flip();
+    }
+
+    public byte[] getID() {
+	return getSwitchID(dpid).array();
+    }
+
+    public ByteBuffer getIDasByteBuffer() {
+	return getSwitchID(dpid);
+    }
+}