--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/src/core/ref-count-base.cc	Thu Mar 27 15:28:54 2008 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2007 Georgia Tech Research Corporation
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation;
+ *
+ * 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., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+ *
+ * Author:  George Riley <riley@ece.gatech.edu>
+ * Adapted from original code in object.h by:
+ * Authors: Gustavo Carneiro <gjcarneiro@gmail.com>,
+ *          Mathieu Lacage <mathieu.lacage@sophia.inria.fr>
+ */
+
+#include "ref-count-base.h"
+
+namespace ns3 {
+
+RefCountBase::RefCountBase() 
+  : m_count (1) 
+{
+}
+
+RefCountBase::~RefCountBase () 
+{
+}
+
+} // namespace ns3

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/src/core/ref-count-base.h	Thu Mar 27 15:28:54 2008 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2007 Georgia Tech Research Corporation
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation;
+ *
+ * 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., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+ *
+ * Author:  George Riley <riley@ece.gatech.edu>
+ * Adapted from original code in object.h by:
+ * Authors: Gustavo Carneiro <gjcarneiro@gmail.com>,
+ *          Mathieu Lacage <mathieu.lacage@sophia.inria.fr>
+ */
+#ifndef __REF_COUNT_BASE_H__
+#define __REF_COUNT_BASE_H__
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+namespace ns3 {
+
+/**
+ * \brief a base class that provides implementations of reference counting
+ *    operations.
+ *  
+ * A base class that provides implementations of reference counting 
+ * operations, for classes that wish to use the templatized smart 
+ * pointer for memory management but that do not wish to derive from
+ * class ns3::Object.
+ *
+ */
+class RefCountBase 
+{ 
+public:
+  RefCountBase();
+  virtual ~RefCountBase ();
+  /**
+   * Increment the reference count. This method should not be called
+   * by user code. RefCountBase instances are expected to be used in
+   * conjunction with the Ptr template which would make calling Ref
+   * unecessary and dangerous.
+   */
+  inline void Ref () const;
+  /**
+   * Decrement the reference count. This method should not be called
+   * by user code. RefCountBase instances are expected to be used in 
+   * conjunction with the Ptr template which would make calling Ref
+   * unecessary and dangerous.
+   */
+  inline void Unref () const;
+private:
+  // Note we make this mutable so that the const methods can still
+  // change it.
+  mutable uint32_t m_count;  // Reference count
+};
+
+} // namespace ns3
+
+namespace ns3 {
+
+// Implementation of the in-line methods
+void
+RefCountBase::Ref () const
+{
+  m_count++;
+}
+
+void
+RefCountBase::Unref () const
+{
+  if (--m_count == 0)
+    { // All references removed, ok to delete
+      delete this;
+    }
+}
+
+} // namespace ns3
+
+#endif /* __REF_COUNT_BASE_H__*/

--- a/src/core/wscript	Thu Mar 27 15:22:04 2008 -0700
+++ b/src/core/wscript	Thu Mar 27 15:28:54 2008 -0700
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
         'type-id.cc',
         'attribute-list.cc',
         'object-base.cc',
+        'ref-count-base.cc',
         'ptr.cc',
         'object.cc',
         'test.cc',