diff --git a/libosmocore/include/osmocore/Makefile.am b/libosmocore/include/osmocore/Makefile.am
index 56f926b..fde0102 100644
--- a/libosmocore/include/osmocore/Makefile.am
+++ b/libosmocore/include/osmocore/Makefile.am
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 osmocore_HEADERS = signal.h linuxlist.h timer.h select.h msgb.h \
 		   tlv.h bitvec.h comp128.h statistics.h gsm_utils.h utils.h \
 		   gsmtap.h write_queue.h rsl.h gsm48.h rxlev_stat.h mncc.h \
-		   gsm48_ie.h logging.h gsm0808.h
+		   gsm48_ie.h logging.h gsm0808.h rate_ctr.h
 
 if ENABLE_TALLOC
 osmocore_HEADERS += talloc.h
diff --git a/libosmocore/include/osmocore/rate_ctr.h b/libosmocore/include/osmocore/rate_ctr.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6a1ace
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libosmocore/include/osmocore/rate_ctr.h
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+#ifndef _RATE_CTR_H
+#define _RATE_CTR_H
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+#include <osmocore/linuxlist.h>
+
+#define RATE_CTR_INTV_NUM	4
+
+enum rate_ctr_intv {
+	RATE_CTR_INTV_SEC,
+	RATE_CTR_INTV_MIN,
+	RATE_CTR_INTV_HOUR,
+	RATE_CTR_INTV_DAY,
+};
+
+/* for each of the intervals, we keep the following values */
+struct rate_ctr_per_intv {
+	uint64_t last;
+	uint64_t rate;
+};
+
+/* for each actual value, we keep the following data */
+struct rate_ctr {
+	uint64_t current;
+	struct rate_ctr_per_intv intv[RATE_CTR_INTV_NUM];
+};
+
+struct rate_ctr_desc {
+	const char *name;
+	const char *description;
+};
+
+/* Describe a counter group class */
+struct rate_ctr_group_desc {
+	/* The prefix / format string to be used for all counters */
+	char *group_prefix_fmt;
+	/* The human-readable description of the group */
+	char *group_description;
+	/* The number of counters in this group */
+	unsigned int num_ctr;
+	/* Pointer to array of counter names */
+	struct rate_ctr_desc *ctr_desc;
+};
+
+/* One instance of a counter group class */
+struct rate_ctr_group {
+	/* Linked list of all counter groups in the system */
+	struct llist_head list;
+	/* Pointer to the counter group class */
+	const struct rate_ctr_group_desc *desc;
+	/* The name prefix generated from desc->group_prefix_fmt and index */
+	char *name_prefix;
+	/* Actual counter structures below */
+	struct rate_ctr ctr[0];
+};
+
+/* Allocate a new group of counters according to description */
+struct rate_ctr_group *rate_ctr_group_alloc(void *ctx,
+					    const struct rate_ctr_group_desc *desc,
+					    unsigned int idx);
+
+/* Free the memory for the specified group of counters */
+void rate_ctr_group_free(struct rate_ctr_group *grp);
+
+/* Add a number to the counter */
+void rate_ctr_add(struct rate_ctr *ctr, int inc);
+
+/* Increment the counter by 1 */
+static inline void rate_ctr_inc(struct rate_ctr *ctr)
+{
+	rate_ctr_add(ctr, 1);
+}
+
+/* Initialize the counter module */
+int rate_ctr_init(void *tall_ctx);
+
+struct vty;
+void vty_out_rate_ctr_group(struct vty *vty, const char *prefix,
+			    struct rate_ctr_group *ctrg);
+#endif /* RATE_CTR_H */
diff --git a/libosmocore/src/Makefile.am b/libosmocore/src/Makefile.am
index 20e99db..ce063d0 100644
--- a/libosmocore/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/libosmocore/src/Makefile.am
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 libosmocore_la_SOURCES = timer.c select.c signal.c msgb.c rxlev_stat.c \
 			 tlv_parser.c bitvec.c comp128.c gsm_utils.c statistics.c \
 			 write_queue.c utils.c rsl.c gsm48.c gsm48_ie.c \
-			 logging.c gsm0808.c
+			 logging.c gsm0808.c rate_ctr.c
 
 if ENABLE_TALLOC
 libosmocore_la_SOURCES += talloc.c
diff --git a/libosmocore/src/rate_ctr.c b/libosmocore/src/rate_ctr.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b2459e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libosmocore/src/rate_ctr.c
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+/* utility routines for keeping conters about events and the event rates */
+
+/* (C) 2009-2010 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.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <inttypes.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include <osmocore/linuxlist.h>
+#include <osmocore/talloc.h>
+#include <osmocore/timer.h>
+#include <osmocore/rate_ctr.h>
+
+static LLIST_HEAD(rate_ctr_groups);
+
+static void *tall_rate_ctr_ctx;
+
+struct rate_ctr_group *rate_ctr_group_alloc(void *ctx,
+					    const struct rate_ctr_group_desc *desc,
+					    unsigned int idx)
+{
+	unsigned int size;
+	struct rate_ctr_group *group;
+
+	size = sizeof(struct rate_ctr_group) +
+			desc->num_ctr * sizeof(struct rate_ctr);
+
+	if (!ctx)
+		ctx = tall_rate_ctr_ctx;
+
+	group = talloc_zero_size(ctx, size);
+	if (!group)
+		return NULL;
+
+	group->desc = desc;
+	/* Generate the Group prefix from the user-specified index */
+	group->name_prefix = talloc_size(group, strlen(desc->group_prefix_fmt) + 20);
+	sprintf(group->name_prefix, desc->group_prefix_fmt, idx);
+
+	llist_add(&group->list, &rate_ctr_groups);
+
+	return group;
+}
+
+void rate_ctr_group_free(struct rate_ctr_group *grp)
+{
+	llist_del(&grp->list);
+	talloc_free(grp);
+}
+
+void rate_ctr_add(struct rate_ctr *ctr, int inc)
+{
+	ctr->current += inc;
+}
+
+static void interval_expired(struct rate_ctr *ctr, enum rate_ctr_intv intv)
+{
+	/* calculate rate over last interval */
+	ctr->intv[intv].rate = ctr->current - ctr->intv[intv].last;
+	/* save current counter for next interval */
+	ctr->intv[intv].last = ctr->current;
+}
+
+static struct timer_list rate_ctr_timer;
+static uint64_t timer_ticks;
+
+/* The one-second interval has expired */
+static void rate_ctr_group_intv(struct rate_ctr_group *grp)
+{
+	unsigned int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < grp->desc->num_ctr; i++) {
+		struct rate_ctr *ctr = &grp->ctr[i];
+
+		interval_expired(ctr, RATE_CTR_INTV_SEC);
+		if ((timer_ticks % 60) == 0)
+			interval_expired(ctr, RATE_CTR_INTV_MIN);
+		if ((timer_ticks % (60*60)) == 0)
+			interval_expired(ctr, RATE_CTR_INTV_HOUR);
+		if ((timer_ticks % (24*60*60)) == 0)
+			interval_expired(ctr, RATE_CTR_INTV_DAY);
+	}
+}
+
+static void rate_ctr_timer_cb(void *data)
+{
+	struct rate_ctr_group *ctrg;
+
+	/* Increment number of ticks before we calculate intervals,
+	 * as a counter value of 0 would already wrap all counters */
+	timer_ticks++;
+
+	llist_for_each_entry(ctrg, &rate_ctr_groups, list)
+		rate_ctr_group_intv(ctrg);
+
+	bsc_schedule_timer(&rate_ctr_timer, 1, 0);
+}
+
+int rate_ctr_init(void *tall_ctx)
+{
+	tall_rate_ctr_ctx = tall_ctx;
+	rate_ctr_timer.cb = rate_ctr_timer_cb;
+	bsc_schedule_timer(&rate_ctr_timer, 1, 0);
+
+	return 0;
+}