diff --git a/src/main/java/net/floodlightcontroller/util/EnumBitmaps.java b/src/main/java/net/floodlightcontroller/util/EnumBitmaps.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7503eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/net/floodlightcontroller/util/EnumBitmaps.java
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+package net.floodlightcontroller.util;
+
+import java.util.EnumSet;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+/**
+ * A utility class to convert between integer based bitmaps for (OpenFlow)
+ * flags and Enum and EnumSet based representations.
+ *
+ * The enum used to represent individual flags needs to implement the
+ * BitmapableEnum interface.
+ *
+ * Example:
+ * {@code
+ *   int bitmap = 0x11; // OFPPC_PORT_DOWN | OFPPC_NO_STP
+ *   EnumSet<OFPortConfig> s = toEnumSet(OFPortConfig.class, bitmap);
+ *   // s will contain OFPPC_PORT_DOWN and OFPPC_NO_STP
+ * }
+ *
+ * {@code
+ *    EnumSet<OFPortConfig> s = EnumSet.of(OFPPC_NO_STP, OFPPC_PORT_DOWN);
+ *    int bitmap = toBitmap(s); // returns 0x11
+ * }
+ * @author gregor
+ *
+ */
+public class EnumBitmaps {
+    /**
+     * Enums used to represent individual flags needs to implement this
+     * interface
+     */
+    public interface BitmapableEnum {
+        /** Return the value in the bitmap that the enum constant represents.
+         * The returned value must have only a single bit set. E.g.,1<<3
+         */
+        int getValue();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Convert an integer bitmap to an EnumSet.
+     *
+     * See class description for example
+     * @param type The Enum class to use. Must implement BitmapableEnum
+     * @param bitmap The integer bitmap
+     * @return A newly allocated EnumSet representing the bits set in the
+     * bitmap
+     * @throws NullPointerException if type is null
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if any enum constant from type has
+     * more than one bit set.
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the bitmap has any bits set not
+     * represented by an enum constant.
+     */
+    public static <E extends Enum<E> & BitmapableEnum>
+            EnumSet<E> toEnumSet(Class<E> type, int bitmap) {
+        if (type == null)
+            throw new NullPointerException("Given enum type must not be null");
+        EnumSet<E> s = EnumSet.noneOf(type);
+        // allSetBitmap will eventually have all valid bits for the given
+        // type set.
+        int allSetBitmap = 0;
+        for (E element: type.getEnumConstants()) {
+            if (Integer.bitCount(element.getValue()) != 1) {
+                String msg = String.format("The %s (%x) constant of the " +
+                        "enum %s is supposed to represent a bitmap entry but " +
+                        "has more than one bit set.",
+                        element.toString(), element.getValue(), type.getName());
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(msg);
+            }
+            allSetBitmap |= element.getValue();
+            if ((bitmap & element.getValue()) != 0)
+                s.add(element);
+        }
+        if (((~allSetBitmap) & bitmap) != 0) {
+            // check if only valid flags are set in the given bitmap
+            String msg = String.format("The bitmap %x for enum %s has " +
+                    "bits set that are presented by any enum constant",
+                    bitmap, type.getName());
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(msg);
+        }
+        return s;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Return the bitmap mask with all possible bits set. E.g., If a bitmap
+     * has the individual flags 0x1, 0x2, and 0x8 (note the missing 0x4) then
+     * the mask will be 0xb (1011 binary)
+     *
+     * @param type The Enum class to use. Must implement BitmapableEnum
+     * @throws NullPointerException if type is null
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if any enum constant from type has
+     * more than one bit set
+     * @return an integer with all possible bits for the given bitmap enum
+     * type set.
+     */
+    public static <E extends Enum<E> & BitmapableEnum>
+            int getMask(Class<E> type) {
+        if (type == null)
+            throw new NullPointerException("Given enum type must not be null");
+        // allSetBitmap will eventually have all valid bits for the given
+        // type set.
+        int allSetBitmap = 0;
+        for (E element: type.getEnumConstants()) {
+            if (Integer.bitCount(element.getValue()) != 1) {
+                String msg = String.format("The %s (%x) constant of the " +
+                        "enum %s is supposed to represent a bitmap entry but " +
+                        "has more than one bit set.",
+                        element.toString(), element.getValue(), type.getName());
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(msg);
+            }
+            allSetBitmap |= element.getValue();
+        }
+        return allSetBitmap;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Convert the given EnumSet to the integer bitmap representation
+     * @param set The EnumSet to convert. The enum must implement
+     * BitmapableEnum
+     * @return the integer bitmap
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if an enum constant from the set (!) has
+     * more than one bit set
+     * @throws NullPointerException if the set is null
+     */
+    public static <E extends Enum<E> & BitmapableEnum>
+            int toBitmap(Set<E> set) {
+        if (set == null)
+            throw new NullPointerException("Given set must not be null");
+        int bitmap = 0;
+        for (E element: set) {
+            if (Integer.bitCount(element.getValue()) != 1) {
+                String msg = String.format("The %s (%x) constant in the set " +
+                        "is supposed to represent a bitmap entry but " +
+                        "has more than one bit set.",
+                        element.toString(), element.getValue());
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(msg);
+            }
+            bitmap |= element.getValue();
+        }
+        return bitmap;
+    }
+}