diff --git a/include/binder/Parcel.h b/include/binder/Parcel.h
index ba6c711..66c34b2 100644
--- a/include/binder/Parcel.h
+++ b/include/binder/Parcel.h
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 class ProcessState;
 class String8;
 class TextOutput;
+class Flattenable;
 
 struct flat_binder_object;  // defined in support_p/binder_module.h
 
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@
     status_t            writeString16(const char16_t* str, size_t len);
     status_t            writeStrongBinder(const sp<IBinder>& val);
     status_t            writeWeakBinder(const wp<IBinder>& val);
+    status_t            write(const Flattenable& val);
 
     // Place a native_handle into the parcel (the native_handle's file-
     // descriptors are dup'ed, so it is safe to delete the native_handle
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@
     const char16_t*     readString16Inplace(size_t* outLen) const;
     sp<IBinder>         readStrongBinder() const;
     wp<IBinder>         readWeakBinder() const;
-
+    status_t            read(Flattenable& val) const;
     
     // Retrieve native_handle from the parcel. This returns a copy of the
     // parcel's native_handle (the caller takes ownership). The caller
diff --git a/include/ui/GraphicBuffer.h b/include/ui/GraphicBuffer.h
index b9c491b..e72b6b3 100644
--- a/include/ui/GraphicBuffer.h
+++ b/include/ui/GraphicBuffer.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <ui/android_native_buffer.h>
 #include <ui/PixelFormat.h>
 #include <ui/Rect.h>
+#include <utils/Flattenable.h>
 #include <pixelflinger/pixelflinger.h>
 
 struct android_native_buffer_t;
@@ -30,7 +31,6 @@
 namespace android {
 
 class GraphicBufferMapper;
-class Parcel;
 
 // ===========================================================================
 // GraphicBuffer
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
     : public EGLNativeBase<
         android_native_buffer_t, 
         GraphicBuffer, 
-        LightRefBase<GraphicBuffer> >
+        LightRefBase<GraphicBuffer> >, public Flattenable
 {
 public:
 
@@ -97,7 +97,6 @@
     uint32_t getVerticalStride() const;
 
 protected:
-    GraphicBuffer(const Parcel& reply);
     virtual ~GraphicBuffer();
 
     enum {
@@ -122,8 +121,16 @@
     status_t initSize(uint32_t w, uint32_t h, PixelFormat format, 
             uint32_t usage);
 
-    static status_t writeToParcel(Parcel* reply, 
-            android_native_buffer_t const* buffer);
+    void free_handle();
+
+    // Flattenable interface
+    size_t getFlattenedSize() const;
+    size_t getFdCount() const;
+    status_t flatten(void* buffer, size_t size,
+            int fds[], size_t count) const;
+    status_t unflatten(void const* buffer, size_t size,
+            int fds[], size_t count);
+
 
     GraphicBufferMapper& mBufferMapper;
     ssize_t mInitCheck;
diff --git a/include/utils/Flattenable.h b/include/utils/Flattenable.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..852be3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/utils/Flattenable.h
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#ifndef ANDROID_UTILS_FLATTENABLE_H
+#define ANDROID_UTILS_FLATTENABLE_H
+
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <utils/Errors.h>
+
+namespace android {
+
+class Flattenable
+{
+public:
+    // size in bytes of the flattened object
+    virtual size_t getFlattenedSize() const = 0;
+
+    // number of file descriptors to flatten
+    virtual size_t getFdCount() const = 0;
+
+    // flattens the object into buffer.
+    // size should be at least of getFlattenedSize()
+    // file descriptors are written in the fds[] array but ownership is
+    // not transfered (ie: they must be dupped by the caller of
+    // flatten() if needed).
+    virtual status_t flatten(void* buffer, size_t size,
+            int fds[], size_t count) const = 0;
+
+    // unflattens the object from buffer.
+    // size should be equal to the value of getFlattenedSize() when the
+    // object was flattened.
+    // unflattened file descriptors are found in the fds[] array and
+    // don't need to be dupped(). ie: the caller of unflatten doesn't
+    // keep ownership. If a fd is not retained by unflatten() it must be
+    // explicitly closed.
+    virtual status_t unflatten(void const* buffer, size_t size,
+            int fds[], size_t count) = 0;
+
+protected:
+    virtual ~Flattenable() = 0;
+
+};
+
+}; // namespace android
+
+
+#endif /* ANDROID_UTILS_FLATTENABLE_H */