diff --git a/src/capwap/cw_util.h b/src/capwap/cw_util.h
index 9c8f6d7f..3afdf1c2 100644
--- a/src/capwap/cw_util.h
+++ b/src/capwap/cw_util.h
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 */
 
 #include <stdint.h>
+#include <time.h>
 
 extern uint8_t * cw_setstr(uint8_t ** dst, const uint8_t *src, int len);
 
@@ -29,3 +30,7 @@ extern int cw_pseudo_rand(uint8_t *dst, int len);
 extern int cw_rand(uint8_t*dst, int len);
 
 extern int cw_is_printable(const uint8_t * s,int len);
+
+
+#define cw_timer_start(t) (time(NULL)+t)
+#define cw_timer_timeout(t) (time(NULL)>t ? 1 : 0)