diff --git a/hypervisor/src/arch/emulator/mod.rs b/hypervisor/src/arch/emulator/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..678b57cd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hypervisor/src/arch/emulator/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+//
+// Copyright © 2020 Intel Corporation
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+//
+
+extern crate thiserror;
+
+use core::fmt::Debug;
+use std::fmt::{self, Display};
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Error, Debug)]
+pub struct Exception<T: Debug> {
+    vector: T,
+    ip: u64,
+    error: Option<u32>,
+    payload: Option<u64>,
+}
+
+impl<T: Debug> Display for Exception<T> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "Exception {:?} at IP {:#x}", self.vector, self.ip)
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Error, Debug)]
+pub enum PlatformError {
+    #[error("Invalid register: {0}")]
+    InvalidRegister(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Memory read failure: {0}")]
+    MemoryReadFailure(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Memory write failure: {0}")]
+    MemoryWriteFailure(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Get CPU state failure: {0}")]
+    GetCpuStateFailure(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Set CPU state failure: {0}")]
+    SetCpuStateFailure(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Unmapped virtual address: {0}")]
+    UnmappedGVA(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+}
+
+#[derive(Error, Debug)]
+pub enum EmulationError<T: Debug> {
+    #[error("Unsupported instruction: {0}")]
+    UnsupportedInstruction(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Unsupported memory size: {0}")]
+    UnsupportedMemorySize(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Invalid operand: {0}")]
+    InvalidOperand(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Wrong number of operands: {0}")]
+    WrongNumberOperands(#[source] anyhow::Error),
+
+    #[error("Instruction Exception: {0}")]
+    InstructionException(Exception<T>),
+
+    #[error("Platform emulation error: {0}")]
+    PlatformEmulationError(PlatformError),
+}
+
+/// The PlatformEmulator trait emulates a guest platform.
+/// It's mostly a guest resources (memory and CPU state) getter and setter.
+///
+/// A CpuState is an architecture specific type, representing a CPU state.
+/// The emulator and its instruction handlers modify a given CPU state and
+/// eventually ask the platform to commit it back through `set_cpu_state`.
+pub trait PlatformEmulator: Send + Sync {
+    type CpuState: Clone;
+
+    /// Read guest memory into a u8 slice.
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `gva` - Guest virtual address to read from.
+    /// * `data` - Data slice to read into.
+    ///
+    fn read_memory(&self, gva: u64, data: &mut [u8]) -> Result<(), PlatformError>;
+
+    /// Write a u8 slice into guest memory.
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `gva` - Guest virtual address to write into.
+    /// * `data` - Data slice to be written.
+    ///
+    fn write_memory(&mut self, gva: u64, data: &[u8]) -> Result<(), PlatformError>;
+
+    /// Get a CPU state from the guest.
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `cpu_id` - Logical CPU ID.
+    ///
+    fn cpu_state(&self, cpu_id: usize) -> Result<Self::CpuState, PlatformError>;
+
+    /// Set a guest CPU state.
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `cpu_id` - Logical CPU ID.
+    /// * `state` - State to set the CPU into.
+    ///
+    fn set_cpu_state(&self, cpu_id: usize, state: Self::CpuState) -> Result<(), PlatformError>;
+
+    /// Translate a guest virtual address into a physical one
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `gva` - Guest virtual address to translate.
+    ///
+    fn gva_to_gpa(&self, gva: u64) -> Result<u64, PlatformError>;
+}
+
+pub type EmulationResult<S, E> = std::result::Result<S, EmulationError<E>>;
diff --git a/hypervisor/src/arch/mod.rs b/hypervisor/src/arch/mod.rs
index b77d2630a..a919f0ee1 100644
--- a/hypervisor/src/arch/mod.rs
+++ b/hypervisor/src/arch/mod.rs
@@ -11,5 +11,7 @@
 // Copyright © 2020, Microsoft Corporation
 //
 
+pub mod emulator;
+
 #[cfg(target_arch = "x86_64")]
 pub mod x86;