diff --git a/htlcswitch/iterator.go b/htlcswitch/iterator.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0a9152ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/htlcswitch/iterator.go
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package htlcswitch
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/hex"
+
+	"github.com/btcsuite/golangcrypto/ripemd160"
+	"github.com/roasbeef/btcutil"
+)
+
+// hopID represents the id which is used by propagation subsystem in order to
+// identify lightning network node.
+// TODO(andrew.shvv) remove after switching to the using channel id.
+type hopID [ripemd160.Size]byte
+
+// newHopID creates new instance of hop form node public key.
+func newHopID(pubKey []byte) hopID {
+	var routeId hopID
+	copy(routeId[:], btcutil.Hash160(pubKey))
+	return routeId
+}
+
+// String returns string representation of hop id.
+func (h hopID) String() string {
+	return hex.EncodeToString(h[:])
+}
+
+// IsEqual checks does the two hop ids are equal.
+func (h hopID) IsEqual(h2 hopID) bool {
+	return bytes.Equal(h[:], h2[:])
+}