diff --git a/hw/ppc/Makefile.objs b/hw/ppc/Makefile.objs
index ebc72af..8025129 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/Makefile.objs
+++ b/hw/ppc/Makefile.objs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ obj-y += ppc.o ppc_booke.o fdt.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_PSERIES) += spapr.o spapr_vio.o spapr_events.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_PSERIES) += spapr_hcall.o spapr_iommu.o spapr_rtas.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_PSERIES) += spapr_pci.o spapr_rtc.o spapr_drc.o spapr_rng.o
-obj-$(CONFIG_PSERIES) += spapr_cpu_core.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_PSERIES) += spapr_cpu_core.o spapr_ovec.o
 # IBM PowerNV
 obj-$(CONFIG_POWERNV) += pnv.o pnv_xscom.o pnv_core.o pnv_lpc.o
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_PCI)$(CONFIG_PSERIES)$(CONFIG_LINUX), yyy)
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_ovec.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_ovec.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2a0d18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_ovec.c
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU SPAPR Architecture Option Vector Helper Functions
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2016
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Bharata B Rao     <bharata@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *  Michael Roth      <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ */
+
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "hw/ppc/spapr_ovec.h"
+#include "qemu/bitmap.h"
+#include "exec/address-spaces.h"
+#include "qemu/error-report.h"
+#include <libfdt.h>
+
+/* #define DEBUG_SPAPR_OVEC */
+
+#ifdef DEBUG_SPAPR_OVEC
+#define DPRINTFN(fmt, ...) \
+    do { fprintf(stderr, fmt "\n", ## __VA_ARGS__); } while (0)
+#else
+#define DPRINTFN(fmt, ...) \
+    do { } while (0)
+#endif
+
+#define OV_MAXBYTES 256 /* not including length byte */
+#define OV_MAXBITS (OV_MAXBYTES * BITS_PER_BYTE)
+
+/* we *could* work with bitmaps directly, but handling the bitmap privately
+ * allows us to more safely make assumptions about the bitmap size and
+ * simplify the calling code somewhat
+ */
+struct sPAPROptionVector {
+    unsigned long *bitmap;
+};
+
+sPAPROptionVector *spapr_ovec_new(void)
+{
+    sPAPROptionVector *ov;
+
+    ov = g_new0(sPAPROptionVector, 1);
+    ov->bitmap = bitmap_new(OV_MAXBITS);
+
+    return ov;
+}
+
+sPAPROptionVector *spapr_ovec_clone(sPAPROptionVector *ov_orig)
+{
+    sPAPROptionVector *ov;
+
+    g_assert(ov_orig);
+
+    ov = spapr_ovec_new();
+    bitmap_copy(ov->bitmap, ov_orig->bitmap, OV_MAXBITS);
+
+    return ov;
+}
+
+void spapr_ovec_intersect(sPAPROptionVector *ov,
+                          sPAPROptionVector *ov1,
+                          sPAPROptionVector *ov2)
+{
+    g_assert(ov);
+    g_assert(ov1);
+    g_assert(ov2);
+
+    bitmap_and(ov->bitmap, ov1->bitmap, ov2->bitmap, OV_MAXBITS);
+}
+
+/* returns true if options bits were removed, false otherwise */
+bool spapr_ovec_diff(sPAPROptionVector *ov,
+                     sPAPROptionVector *ov_old,
+                     sPAPROptionVector *ov_new)
+{
+    unsigned long *change_mask = bitmap_new(OV_MAXBITS);
+    unsigned long *removed_bits = bitmap_new(OV_MAXBITS);
+    bool bits_were_removed = false;
+
+    g_assert(ov);
+    g_assert(ov_old);
+    g_assert(ov_new);
+
+    bitmap_xor(change_mask, ov_old->bitmap, ov_new->bitmap, OV_MAXBITS);
+    bitmap_and(ov->bitmap, ov_new->bitmap, change_mask, OV_MAXBITS);
+    bitmap_and(removed_bits, ov_old->bitmap, change_mask, OV_MAXBITS);
+
+    if (!bitmap_empty(removed_bits, OV_MAXBITS)) {
+        bits_were_removed = true;
+    }
+
+    g_free(change_mask);
+    g_free(removed_bits);
+
+    return bits_were_removed;
+}
+
+void spapr_ovec_cleanup(sPAPROptionVector *ov)
+{
+    if (ov) {
+        g_free(ov->bitmap);
+        g_free(ov);
+    }
+}
+
+void spapr_ovec_set(sPAPROptionVector *ov, long bitnr)
+{
+    g_assert(ov);
+    g_assert_cmpint(bitnr, <, OV_MAXBITS);
+
+    set_bit(bitnr, ov->bitmap);
+}
+
+void spapr_ovec_clear(sPAPROptionVector *ov, long bitnr)
+{
+    g_assert(ov);
+    g_assert_cmpint(bitnr, <, OV_MAXBITS);
+
+    clear_bit(bitnr, ov->bitmap);
+}
+
+bool spapr_ovec_test(sPAPROptionVector *ov, long bitnr)
+{
+    g_assert(ov);
+    g_assert_cmpint(bitnr, <, OV_MAXBITS);
+
+    return test_bit(bitnr, ov->bitmap) ? true : false;
+}
+
+static void guest_byte_to_bitmap(uint8_t entry, unsigned long *bitmap,
+                                 long bitmap_offset)
+{
+    int i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < BITS_PER_BYTE; i++) {
+        if (entry & (1 << (BITS_PER_BYTE - 1 - i))) {
+            bitmap_set(bitmap, bitmap_offset + i, 1);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+static uint8_t guest_byte_from_bitmap(unsigned long *bitmap, long bitmap_offset)
+{
+    uint8_t entry = 0;
+    int i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < BITS_PER_BYTE; i++) {
+        if (test_bit(bitmap_offset + i, bitmap)) {
+            entry |= (1 << (BITS_PER_BYTE - 1 - i));
+        }
+    }
+
+    return entry;
+}
+
+static target_ulong vector_addr(target_ulong table_addr, int vector)
+{
+    uint16_t vector_count, vector_len;
+    int i;
+
+    vector_count = ldub_phys(&address_space_memory, table_addr) + 1;
+    if (vector > vector_count) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+    table_addr++; /* skip nr option vectors */
+
+    for (i = 0; i < vector - 1; i++) {
+        vector_len = ldub_phys(&address_space_memory, table_addr) + 1;
+        table_addr += vector_len + 1; /* bit-vector + length byte */
+    }
+    return table_addr;
+}
+
+sPAPROptionVector *spapr_ovec_parse_vector(target_ulong table_addr, int vector)
+{
+    sPAPROptionVector *ov;
+    target_ulong addr;
+    uint16_t vector_len;
+    int i;
+
+    g_assert(table_addr);
+    g_assert_cmpint(vector, >=, 1); /* vector numbering starts at 1 */
+
+    addr = vector_addr(table_addr, vector);
+    if (!addr) {
+        /* specified vector isn't present */
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    vector_len = ldub_phys(&address_space_memory, addr++) + 1;
+    g_assert_cmpint(vector_len, <=, OV_MAXBYTES);
+    ov = spapr_ovec_new();
+
+    for (i = 0; i < vector_len; i++) {
+        uint8_t entry = ldub_phys(&address_space_memory, addr + i);
+        if (entry) {
+            DPRINTFN("read guest vector %2d, byte %3d / %3d: 0x%.2x",
+                     vector, i + 1, vector_len, entry);
+            guest_byte_to_bitmap(entry, ov->bitmap, i * BITS_PER_BYTE);
+        }
+    }
+
+    return ov;
+}
+
+int spapr_ovec_populate_dt(void *fdt, int fdt_offset,
+                           sPAPROptionVector *ov, const char *name)
+{
+    uint8_t vec[OV_MAXBYTES + 1];
+    uint16_t vec_len;
+    unsigned long lastbit;
+    int i;
+
+    g_assert(ov);
+
+    lastbit = find_last_bit(ov->bitmap, OV_MAXBITS);
+    /* if no bits are set, include at least 1 byte of the vector so we can
+     * still encoded this in the device tree while abiding by the same
+     * encoding/sizing expected in ibm,client-architecture-support
+     */
+    vec_len = (lastbit == OV_MAXBITS) ? 1 : lastbit / BITS_PER_BYTE + 1;
+    g_assert_cmpint(vec_len, <=, OV_MAXBYTES);
+    /* guest expects vector len encoded as vec_len - 1, since the length byte
+     * is assumed and not included, and the first byte of the vector
+     * is assumed as well
+     */
+    vec[0] = vec_len - 1;
+
+    for (i = 1; i < vec_len + 1; i++) {
+        vec[i] = guest_byte_from_bitmap(ov->bitmap, (i - 1) * BITS_PER_BYTE);
+        if (vec[i]) {
+            DPRINTFN("encoding guest vector byte %3d / %3d: 0x%.2x",
+                     i, vec_len, vec[i]);
+        }
+    }
+
+    return fdt_setprop(fdt, fdt_offset, name, vec, vec_len);
+}
diff --git a/include/hw/ppc/spapr_ovec.h b/include/hw/ppc/spapr_ovec.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fba2d98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/hw/ppc/spapr_ovec.h
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU SPAPR Option/Architecture Vector Definitions
+ *
+ * Each architecture option is organized/documented by the following
+ * in LoPAPR 1.1, Table 244:
+ *
+ *   <vector number>: the bit-vector in which the option is located
+ *   <vector byte>: the byte offset of the vector entry
+ *   <vector bit>: the bit offset within the vector entry
+ *
+ * where each vector entry can be one or more bytes.
+ *
+ * Firmware expects a somewhat literal encoding of this bit-vector
+ * structure, where each entry is stored in little-endian so that the
+ * byte ordering reflects that of the documentation, but where each bit
+ * offset is from "left-to-right" in the traditional representation of
+ * a byte value where the MSB is the left-most bit. Thus, each
+ * individual byte encodes the option bits in reverse order of the
+ * documented bit.
+ *
+ * These definitions/helpers attempt to abstract away this internal
+ * representation so that we can define/set/test for individual option
+ * bits using only the documented values. This is done mainly by relying
+ * on a bitmap to approximate the documented "bit-vector" structure and
+ * handling conversations to-from the internal representation under the
+ * covers.
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2016
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Michael Roth      <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ */
+#if !defined(__HW_SPAPR_OPTION_VECTORS_H__)
+#define __HW_SPAPR_OPTION_VECTORS_H__
+
+#include "cpu.h"
+
+typedef struct sPAPROptionVector sPAPROptionVector;
+
+#define OV_BIT(byte, bit) ((byte - 1) * BITS_PER_BYTE + bit)
+
+/* interfaces */
+sPAPROptionVector *spapr_ovec_new(void);
+sPAPROptionVector *spapr_ovec_clone(sPAPROptionVector *ov_orig);
+void spapr_ovec_intersect(sPAPROptionVector *ov,
+                          sPAPROptionVector *ov1,
+                          sPAPROptionVector *ov2);
+bool spapr_ovec_diff(sPAPROptionVector *ov,
+                     sPAPROptionVector *ov_old,
+                     sPAPROptionVector *ov_new);
+void spapr_ovec_cleanup(sPAPROptionVector *ov);
+void spapr_ovec_set(sPAPROptionVector *ov, long bitnr);
+void spapr_ovec_clear(sPAPROptionVector *ov, long bitnr);
+bool spapr_ovec_test(sPAPROptionVector *ov, long bitnr);
+sPAPROptionVector *spapr_ovec_parse_vector(target_ulong table_addr, int vector);
+int spapr_ovec_populate_dt(void *fdt, int fdt_offset,
+                           sPAPROptionVector *ov, const char *name);
+
+#endif /* !defined (__HW_SPAPR_OPTION_VECTORS_H__) */
