diff --git a/src/encoding/block.cpp b/src/encoding/block.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c19cee7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/encoding/block.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, Regents of the University of California
+ *
+ * BSD license, See the LICENSE file for more information
+ *
+ * Author: Alexander Afanasyev <alexander.afanasyev@ucla.edu>
+ */
+
+#include <ndn-cpp/encoding/block.hpp>
+#include <ndn-cpp/encoding/tlv.hpp>
+
+namespace ndn {
+
+Block::Block()
+  : m_type(std::numeric_limits<uint32_t>::max())
+{
+}
+
+Block::Block(const ConstBufferPtr &wire,
+             uint32_t type,
+             const Buffer::const_iterator &begin, Buffer::const_iterator &end,
+             const Buffer::const_iterator &valueBegin, Buffer::const_iterator &valueEnd)
+  : m_buffer(wire)
+  , m_type(type)
+  , m_begin(begin)
+  , m_end(end)
+  , m_size(m_end - m_begin)
+  , m_value_begin(valueBegin)
+  , m_value_end(valueEnd)
+{
+}
+
+Block::Block(const ConstBufferPtr &buffer)
+  : m_buffer(buffer)
+  , m_begin(m_buffer->begin())
+  , m_end(m_buffer->end())
+  , m_size(m_end - m_begin)
+{
+  m_value_begin = m_buffer->begin();
+  m_value_end   = m_buffer->end();
+  
+  m_type = Tlv::readType(m_value_begin, m_value_end);
+
+  uint64_t length = Tlv::readVarNumber(m_value_begin, m_value_end);
+  if (length != (m_value_end - m_value_begin))
+    {
+      throw Tlv::Error("TLV length doesn't match buffer length");
+    }
+}
+
+Block::Block(const uint8_t *buffer, size_t maxlength)
+{
+  const uint8_t * tmp_begin = buffer;
+  const uint8_t * tmp_end   = buffer + maxlength;  
+  
+  m_type = Tlv::readType(tmp_begin, tmp_end);
+  uint64_t length = Tlv::readVarNumber(tmp_begin, tmp_end);
+  
+  if (length > (tmp_end - tmp_begin))
+    {
+      throw Tlv::Error("Not enough data in the buffer to fully parse TLV");
+    }
+
+  m_buffer = ptr_lib::make_shared<Buffer> (buffer, (tmp_begin - buffer) + length);
+
+  m_begin = m_buffer->begin();
+  m_end = m_buffer->end();
+  m_size = m_end - m_begin;
+
+  m_value_begin = m_buffer->begin() + (tmp_begin - buffer);
+  m_value_end   = m_buffer->end();
+}
+
+Block::Block(const void *bufferX, size_t maxlength)
+{
+  const uint8_t * buffer = reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(bufferX);
+  
+  const uint8_t * tmp_begin = buffer;
+  const uint8_t * tmp_end   = buffer + maxlength;  
+  
+  m_type = Tlv::readType(tmp_begin, tmp_end);
+  uint64_t length = Tlv::readVarNumber(tmp_begin, tmp_end);
+  
+  if (length > (tmp_end - tmp_begin))
+    {
+      throw Tlv::Error("Not enough data in the buffer to fully parse TLV");
+    }
+
+  m_buffer = ptr_lib::make_shared<Buffer> (buffer, (tmp_begin - buffer) + length);
+
+  m_begin = m_buffer->begin();
+  m_end = m_buffer->end();
+  m_size = m_end - m_begin;
+
+  m_value_begin = m_buffer->begin() + (tmp_begin - buffer);
+  m_value_end   = m_buffer->end();
+}
+
+Block::Block(uint32_t type)
+  : m_type(type)
+{
+}
+
+Block::Block(uint32_t type, const ConstBufferPtr &value)
+  : m_buffer(value)
+  , m_type(type)
+  , m_begin(m_buffer->end())
+  , m_end(m_buffer->end())
+  , m_value_begin(m_buffer->begin())
+  , m_value_end(m_buffer->end())
+{
+  m_size = Tlv::sizeOfVarNumber(m_type) + Tlv::sizeOfVarNumber(value_size()) + value_size();
+}
+
+Block::Block(uint32_t type, const Block &value)
+  : m_buffer(value.m_buffer)
+  , m_type(type)
+  , m_begin(m_buffer->end())
+  , m_end(m_buffer->end())
+  , m_value_begin(m_buffer->begin())
+  , m_value_end(m_buffer->end())
+{
+  m_size = Tlv::sizeOfVarNumber(m_type) + Tlv::sizeOfVarNumber(value_size()) + value_size();
+}
+
+void
+Block::parse()
+{
+  if (!m_subBlocks.empty() || value_size()==0)
+    return;
+  
+  Buffer::const_iterator begin = value_begin(),
+    end = value_end();
+
+  while (begin != end)
+    {
+      Buffer::const_iterator element_begin = begin;
+      
+      uint32_t type = Tlv::readType(begin, end);
+      uint64_t length = Tlv::readVarNumber(begin, end);
+
+      if (end-begin < length)
+        {
+          m_subBlocks.clear();
+          throw Tlv::Error("TLV length exceeds buffer length");
+        }
+      Buffer::const_iterator element_end = begin + length;
+      
+      m_subBlocks.push_back(Block(m_buffer,
+                                  type,
+                                  element_begin, element_end,
+                                  begin, element_end));
+
+      begin = element_end;
+      // don't do recursive parsing, just the top level
+    }
+}
+
+void
+Block::encode()
+{
+  if (hasWire())
+    return;
+
+  OBufferStream os;
+  Tlv::writeVarNumber(os, type());
+
+  if (hasValue())
+    {
+      Tlv::writeVarNumber(os, value_size());
+      os.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(value()), value_size());
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      size_t valueSize = 0;
+      for (element_const_iterator i = m_subBlocks.begin(); i != m_subBlocks.end(); ++i) {
+        valueSize += i->size();
+      }
+  
+      Tlv::writeVarNumber(os, valueSize);
+
+      for (element_const_iterator i = m_subBlocks.begin(); i != m_subBlocks.end(); ++i) {
+        if (i->hasWire())
+          os.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(i->wire()), i->size());
+        else if (i->hasValue()) {
+          Tlv::writeVarNumber(os, i->type());
+          Tlv::writeVarNumber(os, i->value_size());
+          os.write(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(i->value()), i->value_size());
+        }
+        else
+          throw Error("Underlying value buffer is empty");
+      }
+    }
+
+  // now assign correct block
+
+  m_buffer = os.buf();
+  m_begin = m_buffer->begin();
+  m_end   = m_buffer->end();
+  m_size  = m_end - m_begin;
+
+  m_value_begin = m_buffer->begin();
+  m_value_end   = m_buffer->end();
+  
+  Tlv::readType(m_value_begin, m_value_end);
+  Tlv::readVarNumber(m_value_begin, m_value_end);
+}
+
+} // namespace ndn