diff --git a/hw/s390x/css.c b/hw/s390x/css.c
index 1880b1a0ff..87d913f81c 100644
--- a/hw/s390x/css.c
+++ b/hw/s390x/css.c
@@ -783,6 +783,61 @@ static CCW1 copy_ccw_from_guest(hwaddr addr, bool fmt1)
     }
     return ret;
 }
+/**
+ * If out of bounds marks the stream broken. If broken returns -EINVAL,
+ * otherwise the requested  length (may be zero)
+ */
+static inline int cds_check_len(CcwDataStream *cds, int len)
+{
+    if (cds->at_byte + len > cds->count) {
+        cds->flags |= CDS_F_STREAM_BROKEN;
+    }
+    return cds->flags & CDS_F_STREAM_BROKEN ? -EINVAL : len;
+}
+
+static int ccw_dstream_rw_noflags(CcwDataStream *cds, void *buff, int len,
+                                  CcwDataStreamOp op)
+{
+    int ret;
+
+    ret = cds_check_len(cds, len);
+    if (ret <= 0) {
+        return ret;
+    }
+    if (op == CDS_OP_A) {
+        goto incr;
+    }
+    ret = address_space_rw(&address_space_memory, cds->cda,
+                           MEMTXATTRS_UNSPECIFIED, buff, len, op);
+    if (ret != MEMTX_OK) {
+        cds->flags |= CDS_F_STREAM_BROKEN;
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+incr:
+    cds->at_byte += len;
+    cds->cda += len;
+    return 0;
+}
+
+void ccw_dstream_init(CcwDataStream *cds, CCW1 const *ccw, ORB const *orb)
+{
+    /*
+     * We don't support MIDA (an optional facility) yet and we
+     * catch this earlier. Just for expressing the precondition.
+     */
+    assert(!(orb->ctrl1 & ORB_CTRL1_MASK_MIDAW));
+    cds->flags = (orb->ctrl0 & ORB_CTRL0_MASK_I2K ? CDS_F_I2K : 0) |
+                 (orb->ctrl0 & ORB_CTRL0_MASK_C64 ? CDS_F_C64 : 0) |
+                 (ccw->flags & CCW_FLAG_IDA ? CDS_F_IDA : 0);
+    cds->count = ccw->count;
+    cds->cda_orig = ccw->cda;
+    ccw_dstream_rewind(cds);
+    if (!(cds->flags & CDS_F_IDA)) {
+        cds->op_handler = ccw_dstream_rw_noflags;
+    } else {
+        assert(false);
+    }
+}
 
 static int css_interpret_ccw(SubchDev *sch, hwaddr ccw_addr,
                              bool suspend_allowed)
diff --git a/include/hw/s390x/css.h b/include/hw/s390x/css.h
index 5c5fe6b202..7b7207f9a2 100644
--- a/include/hw/s390x/css.h
+++ b/include/hw/s390x/css.h
@@ -74,6 +74,29 @@ typedef struct CMBE {
     uint32_t reserved[7];
 } QEMU_PACKED CMBE;
 
+typedef enum CcwDataStreamOp {
+    CDS_OP_R = 0,
+    CDS_OP_W = 1,
+    CDS_OP_A = 2
+} CcwDataStreamOp;
+
+/** normal usage is via SuchchDev.cds instead of instantiating */
+typedef struct CcwDataStream {
+#define CDS_F_IDA   0x01
+#define CDS_F_MIDA  0x02
+#define CDS_F_I2K   0x04
+#define CDS_F_C64   0x08
+#define CDS_F_STREAM_BROKEN  0x80
+    uint8_t flags;
+    uint8_t at_idaw;
+    uint16_t at_byte;
+    uint16_t count;
+    uint32_t cda_orig;
+    int (*op_handler)(struct CcwDataStream *cds, void *buff, int len,
+                      CcwDataStreamOp op);
+    hwaddr cda;
+} CcwDataStream;
+
 typedef struct SubchDev SubchDev;
 struct SubchDev {
     /* channel-subsystem related things: */
@@ -91,6 +114,7 @@ struct SubchDev {
     uint8_t ccw_no_data_cnt;
     uint16_t migrated_schid; /* used for missmatch detection */
     ORB orb;
+    CcwDataStream cds;
     /* transport-provided data: */
     int (*ccw_cb) (SubchDev *, CCW1);
     void (*disable_cb)(SubchDev *);
@@ -238,4 +262,47 @@ SubchDev *css_create_sch(CssDevId bus_id, bool is_virtual, bool squash_mcss,
 /** Turn on css migration */
 void css_register_vmstate(void);
 
+
+void ccw_dstream_init(CcwDataStream *cds, CCW1 const *ccw, ORB const *orb);
+
+static inline void ccw_dstream_rewind(CcwDataStream *cds)
+{
+    cds->at_byte = 0;
+    cds->at_idaw = 0;
+    cds->cda = cds->cda_orig;
+}
+
+static inline bool ccw_dstream_good(CcwDataStream *cds)
+{
+    return !(cds->flags & CDS_F_STREAM_BROKEN);
+}
+
+static inline uint16_t ccw_dstream_residual_count(CcwDataStream *cds)
+{
+    return cds->count - cds->at_byte;
+}
+
+static inline uint16_t ccw_dstream_avail(CcwDataStream *cds)
+{
+    return ccw_dstream_good(cds) ?  ccw_dstream_residual_count(cds) : 0;
+}
+
+static inline int ccw_dstream_advance(CcwDataStream *cds, int len)
+{
+    return cds->op_handler(cds, NULL, len, CDS_OP_A);
+}
+
+static inline int ccw_dstream_write_buf(CcwDataStream *cds, void *buff, int len)
+{
+    return cds->op_handler(cds, buff, len, CDS_OP_W);
+}
+
+static inline int ccw_dstream_read_buf(CcwDataStream *cds, void *buff, int len)
+{
+    return cds->op_handler(cds, buff, len, CDS_OP_R);
+}
+
+#define ccw_dstream_read(cds, v) ccw_dstream_read_buf((cds), &(v), sizeof(v))
+#define ccw_dstream_write(cds, v) ccw_dstream_write_buf((cds), &(v), sizeof(v))
+
 #endif
