diff --git a/src/common/ascii-writer.cc b/src/common/ascii-writer.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e00b6f485
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/ascii-writer.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2009 INRIA
+ *
+ * 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: Guillaume Seguin <guillaume@segu.in>
+ */
+#include "ascii-writer.h"
+
+#include "ns3/log.h"
+#include "ns3/simulator.h"
+#include "ns3/simulation-singleton.h"
+#include "ns3/packet.h"
+
+#include <fstream>
+#include <map>
+
+
+NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE ("AsciiWriter");
+
+namespace ns3 {
+
+typedef std::map<std::ostream*, Ptr<AsciiWriter> > AsciiWritersMap;
+
+Ptr<AsciiWriter>
+AsciiWriter::Get (std::ostream &os)
+{
+  AsciiWritersMap *map = SimulationSingleton<AsciiWritersMap>::Get ();
+  Ptr<AsciiWriter> writer = (*map)[&os];
+  if (writer == 0)
+    {
+      // don't call Create<> because constructor is private
+      writer = Ptr<AsciiWriter> (new AsciiWriter (&os), false);
+      (*map)[&os] = writer;
+    }
+  return writer;
+}
+
+AsciiWriter::AsciiWriter (std::ostream *os)
+  : m_writer (os)
+{
+  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
+}
+
+AsciiWriter::~AsciiWriter (void)
+{
+  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this);
+}
+
+void
+AsciiWriter::WritePacket (enum Type type, std::string message, Ptr<const Packet> packet)
+{
+  std::string typeString;
+  switch (type)
+    {
+    case ENQUEUE:
+      typeString = "+";
+      break;
+    case DEQUEUE:
+      typeString = "-";
+      break;
+    case RX:
+      typeString = "r";
+      break;
+    case TX:
+      typeString = "t";
+      break;
+    case DROP:
+      typeString = "d";
+      break;
+    }
+  NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << typeString << message);
+  *m_writer << typeString << " " << Simulator::Now ().GetSeconds () << " "
+            << message << " " << *packet << std::endl;
+}
+
+} // namespace ns3
diff --git a/src/common/ascii-writer.h b/src/common/ascii-writer.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..03cdc7cf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/ascii-writer.h
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2009 INRIA
+ *
+ * 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: Guillaume Seguin <guilla...@segu.in>
+ */
+
+#ifndef ASCII_WRITER_H
+#define ASCII_WRITER_H
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <ostream>
+#include "ns3/ref-count-base.h"
+#include "ns3/ptr.h"
+
+namespace ns3 {
+
+class Packet;
+
+/**
+ * \ingroup common
+ *
+ * \brief Ascii output
+ */
+class AsciiWriter : public RefCountBase
+{
+public:
+  static Ptr<AsciiWriter> Get (std::ostream &os);
+
+  enum Type {
+    ENQUEUE,
+    DEQUEUE,
+    DROP,
+    TX,
+    RX
+  };
+
+  ~AsciiWriter (void);
+
+  /**
+   * Writes a message in the output file, checking if the files will
+   * need to be reordered.
+   */
+  void WritePacket (enum Type type, std::string message, Ptr<const Packet> p);
+
+private:
+  AsciiWriter (std::ostream *os);
+
+  std::ostream *m_writer;
+};
+
+} // namespace ns3
+
+#endif /* ASCII_WRITER_H */
diff --git a/src/common/wscript b/src/common/wscript
index e8e028511..d6f0d8d09 100644
--- a/src/common/wscript
+++ b/src/common/wscript
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ def build(bld):
         'byte-tag-list.cc',
         'tag-buffer.cc',
         'packet-tag-list.cc',
+        'ascii-writer.cc',
         ]
 
     headers = bld.new_task_gen('ns3header')
@@ -35,4 +36,5 @@ def build(bld):
         'byte-tag-list.h',
         'tag-buffer.h',
         'packet-tag-list.h',
+        'ascii-writer.h',
         ]