diff --git a/include/osmocore/bitvec.h b/include/osmocore/bitvec.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..11cb01e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/osmocore/bitvec.h
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#ifndef _BITVEC_H
+#define _BITVEC_H
+
+/* bit vector utility routines */
+
+/* (C) 2009 by Harald Welte <laforge@gnumonks.org>
+ *
+ * All Rights Reserved
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ */
+
+
+/* In GSM mac blocks, every bit can be 0 or 1, or L or H.  L/H are
+ * defined relative to the 0x2b padding pattern */
+enum bit_value {
+	ZERO	= 0,
+	ONE	= 1,
+	L	= 2,
+	H	= 3,
+};
+
+struct bitvec {
+	unsigned int cur_bit;	/* curser to the next unused bit */
+	unsigned int data_len;	/* length of data array in bytes */
+	uint8_t *data;		/* pointer to data array */
+};
+
+/* check if the bit is 0 or 1 for a given position inside a bitvec */
+enum bit_value bitvec_get_bit_pos(struct bitvec *bv, unsigned int bitnr);
+
+/* get the Nth set bit inside the bit vector */
+unsigned int bitvec_get_nth_set_bit(struct bitvec *bv, unsigned int n);
+
+/* Set a bit at given position */
+int bitvec_set_bit_pos(struct bitvec *bv, unsigned int bitnum,
+			enum bit_value bit);
+
+/* Set the next bit in the vector */
+int bitvec_set_bit(struct bitvec *bv, enum bit_value bit);
+
+/* Set multiple bits at the current position */
+int bitvec_set_bits(struct bitvec *bv, enum bit_value *bits, int count);
+
+/* Add an unsigned integer (of length count bits) to current position */
+int bitvec_set_uint(struct bitvec *bv, unsigned int in, int count);
+
+
+/* Pad the bit vector up to a certain bit position */
+int bitvec_spare_padding(struct bitvec *bv, unsigned int up_to_bit);
+
+#endif /* _BITVEC_H */