diff --git a/lib/decoding/osmocom/core/utils.h b/lib/decoding/osmocom/core/utils.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54c8216
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/decoding/osmocom/core/utils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <stdbool.h>
+
+//#include <osmocom/core/backtrace.h>
+//#include <osmocom/core/talloc.h>
+
+/*! \defgroup utils General-purpose utility functions
+ *  @{
+ * \file utils.h */
+
+/*! Determine number of elements in an array of static size */
+#define ARRAY_SIZE(x) (sizeof(x) / sizeof((x)[0]))
+/*! Return the maximum of two specified values */
+#define OSMO_MAX(a, b) ((a) >= (b) ? (a) : (b))
+/*! Return the minimum of two specified values */
+#define OSMO_MIN(a, b) ((a) >= (b) ? (b) : (a))
+/*! Stringify the name of a macro x, e.g. an FSM event name.
+ * Note: if nested within another preprocessor macro, this will
+ * stringify the value of x instead of its name. */
+#define OSMO_STRINGIFY(x) #x
+/*! Stringify the value of a macro x, e.g. a port number. */
+#define OSMO_STRINGIFY_VAL(x) OSMO_STRINGIFY(x)
+/*! Make a value_string entry from an enum value name */
+#define OSMO_VALUE_STRING(x) { x, #x }
+/*! Number of bytes necessary to store given BITS */
+#define OSMO_BYTES_FOR_BITS(BITS) ((BITS + 8 - 1) / 8)
+
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#define __attribute__(_arg_)
+#define __deprecated__
+
+/*! A mapping between human-readable string and numeric value */
+struct value_string {
+	unsigned int value;	/*!< numeric value */
+	const char *str;	/*!< human-readable string */
+};
+
+//const char *get_value_string(const struct value_string *vs, uint32_t val);
+const char *get_value_string_or_null(const struct value_string *vs,
+				     uint32_t val);
+
+int get_string_value(const struct value_string *vs, const char *str);
+
+char osmo_bcd2char(uint8_t bcd);
+/* only works for numbers in ascci */
+uint8_t osmo_char2bcd(char c);
+
+int osmo_hexparse(const char *str, uint8_t *b, int max_len);
+
+char *osmo_ubit_dump(const uint8_t *bits, unsigned int len);
+char *osmo_hexdump(const unsigned char *buf, int len);
+char *osmo_hexdump_nospc(const unsigned char *buf, int len);
+char *osmo_osmo_hexdump_nospc(const unsigned char *buf, int len) __attribute__((__deprecated__));
+
+#define osmo_static_assert(exp, name) typedef int dummy##name [(exp) ? 1 : -1] __attribute__((__unused__));
+
+void osmo_str2lower(char *out, const char *in);
+void osmo_str2upper(char *out, const char *in);
+
+#define OSMO_SNPRINTF_RET(ret, rem, offset, len)		\
+do {								\
+	len += ret;						\
+	if (ret > rem)						\
+		ret = rem;					\
+	offset += ret;						\
+	rem -= ret;						\
+} while (0)
+
+/*! Helper macro to terminate when an assertion failes
+ *  \param[in] exp Predicate to verify
+ *  This function will generate a backtrace and terminate the program if
+ *  the predicate evaluates to false (0).
+ */
+#define OSMO_ASSERT(exp)    \
+	if (!(exp)) { \
+		fprintf(stderr, "Assert failed %s %s:%d\n", #exp, __BASE_FILE__, __LINE__); \
+		/*osmo_generate_backtrace(); \ */\
+		abort(); \
+	}
+
+/*! duplicate a string using talloc and release its prior content (if any)
+ * \param[in] ctx Talloc context to use for allocation
+ * \param[out] dst pointer to string, will be updated with ptr to new string
+ * \param[in] newstr String that will be copieed to newly allocated string */
+/*static inline void osmo_talloc_replace_string(void *ctx, char **dst, const char *newstr)*/
+/*{*/
+/*	if (*dst)*/
+/*		talloc_free(*dst);*/
+/*	*dst = talloc_strdup(ctx, newstr);*/
+/*}*/
+
+/*! Append to a string and re-/allocate if necessary.
+ * \param[in] ctx  Talloc context to use for initial allocation.
+ * \param[in,out] dest  char* to re-/allocate and append to.
+ * \param[in] fmt  printf-like string format.
+ * \param[in] args  Arguments for fmt.
+ *
+ * \a dest may be passed in NULL, or a string previously allocated by talloc.
+ * If an existing string is passed in, it will remain associated with whichever
+ * ctx it was allocated before, regardless whether it matches \a ctx or not.
+ */
+/*#define osmo_talloc_asprintf(ctx, dest, fmt, args ...) \*/
+/*	do { \*/
+/*		if (!dest) \*/
+/*			dest = talloc_asprintf(ctx, fmt, ## args); \*/
+/*		else \*/
+/*			dest = talloc_asprintf_append((char*)dest, fmt, ## args); \*/
+/*	} while (0)*/
+
+int osmo_constant_time_cmp(const uint8_t *exp, const uint8_t *rel, const int count);
+uint64_t osmo_decode_big_endian(const uint8_t *data, size_t data_len);
+uint8_t *osmo_encode_big_endian(uint64_t value, size_t data_len);
+
+size_t osmo_strlcpy(char *dst, const char *src, size_t siz);
+
+bool osmo_is_hexstr(const char *str, int min_digits, int max_digits,
+		    bool require_even);
+
+bool osmo_identifier_valid(const char *str);
+bool osmo_separated_identifiers_valid(const char *str, const char *sep_chars);
+
+const char *osmo_escape_str(const char *str, int len);
+const char *osmo_escape_str_buf(const char *str, int in_len, char *buf, size_t bufsize);
+
+/*! @} */