diff --git a/Makefile.dep b/Makefile.dep
index 94c2441f7e7a9f6ed724616c52106d9c917c7dee..8234fc8296b9be056b48b5dd41bcb99ac2a5ad54 100644
--- a/Makefile.dep
+++ b/Makefile.dep
@@ -261,6 +261,7 @@ ifneq (,$(filter cbor,$(USEMODULE)))
endif
ifneq (,$(filter vtimer,$(USEMODULE)))
+ USEMODULE += xtimer
USEMODULE += timex
endif
diff --git a/sys/Makefile b/sys/Makefile
index aceb6dbf542fb8d8257fcd209317ef8c28956ed5..d133ab8fc440d4be1a2828a267fcb2a6d34d7bbc 100644
--- a/sys/Makefile
+++ b/sys/Makefile
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ endif
ifneq (,$(filter log_%,$(USEMODULE)))
DIRS += log
endif
+ifneq (,$(filter vtimer,$(USEMODULE)))
+ DIRS += compat/vtimer
+endif
ifneq (,$(filter cpp11-compat,$(USEMODULE)))
DIRS += cpp11-compat
endif
diff --git a/sys/compat/vtimer/Makefile b/sys/compat/vtimer/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..48422e909a47d7cd428d10fa73825060ccc8d8c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sys/compat/vtimer/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.base
diff --git a/sys/compat/vtimer/vtimer_compat.c b/sys/compat/vtimer/vtimer_compat.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0a35908a75f0211e726f3696d759b6e4a9e6c6f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sys/compat/vtimer/vtimer_compat.c
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Kaspar Schleiser <kaspar@schleiser.de>
+ *
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @ingroup sys_compat
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief Implementation of the vtimer interface over xtimers
+ *
+ * @author Kaspar Schleiser <kaspar@schleiser.de>
+ *
+ * @}
+ */
+
+#include "xtimer.h"
+#include "timex.h"
+#include "vtimer.h"
+
+#include <time.h>
+#include <sys/time.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+int vtimer_sleep(timex_t time)
+{
+ xtimer_usleep64(timex_uint64(time));
+ return 0;
+}
+
+int vtimer_msg_receive_timeout(msg_t *m, timex_t timeout)
+{
+ uint64_t _timeout = timex_uint64(timeout);
+ return xtimer_msg_receive_timeout64(m, _timeout);
+}
+
+void vtimer_now(timex_t *out)
+{
+ *out = timex_from_uint64(xtimer_now64());
+}
+
+void vtimer_get_localtime(struct tm *localt)
+{
+ timex_t now;
+ vtimer_now(&now);
+
+ memset(localt, 0, sizeof(struct tm));
+ localt->tm_sec = now.seconds % 60;
+ localt->tm_min = (now.seconds / 60) % 60;
+ localt->tm_hour = (now.seconds / 60 / 60) % 24;
+}
+
+void vtimer_set_msg(vtimer_t *t, timex_t interval, kernel_pid_t pid, uint16_t type, void *ptr)
+{
+ t->msg.type = type;
+ t->msg.content.ptr = ptr;
+
+ xtimer_set_msg64(&t->timer, timex_uint64(interval), &t->msg, pid);
+}
+
+int vtimer_set_wakeup(vtimer_t *t, timex_t interval, kernel_pid_t pid)
+{
+ xtimer_set_wakeup64(&t->timer, timex_uint64(interval), pid);
+
+ return 0;
+}
+
+void vtimer_remove(vtimer_t *t)
+{
+ xtimer_remove(&t->timer);
+}
+
+/*
+ * This is a workaround for missing support in clang on OSX,
+ * the alias is not needed in native.
+ * Compare https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/issues/2336
+ */
+#ifndef BOARD_NATIVE
+void _gettimeofday(void) __attribute__ ((weak, alias("vtimer_gettimeofday")));
+#endif
+
+void vtimer_gettimeofday(struct timeval *tp)
+{
+ timex_t now;
+ vtimer_now(&now);
+
+ tp->tv_sec = now.seconds;
+ tp->tv_usec = now.microseconds;
+}
diff --git a/sys/include/vtimer.h b/sys/include/vtimer.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3c5563677177c1bae91d2705fdf2e2ff41bc6bb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sys/include/vtimer.h
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2009, 2014, 2015 Kaspar Schleiser <kaspar@schleiser.de>
+ * Copyright (C) 2013, 2014 Freie Universität Berlin
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @defgroup sys_vtimer Virtual Timer
+ * @ingroup sys
+ * @brief Provides a high level abstraction timer module to register
+ * timers, get current system time, and let a thread sleep for a certain amount
+ * of time. It does not give any timing guarantees.
+ *
+ * @deprecated
+ *
+ * @{
+ * @file
+ * @brief vtimer interface definitions
+ * @author Kaspar Schleiser <kaspar@schleiser.de>
+ */
+
+#ifndef VTIMER_H
+#define VTIMER_H
+
+#include "msg.h"
+#include "timex.h"
+#include "xtimer.h"
+
+#include <time.h>
+#include <sys/time.h>
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief IPC message type for vtimer msg callback
+ */
+#define MSG_TIMER 12345
+
+/**
+ * @brief A vtimer object.
+ *
+ * This structure is used for declaring a vtimer. This should not be used by
+ * programmers, use the vtimer_set_*-functions instead.
+ *
+ * \hideinitializer
+ * @deprecated
+ */
+typedef struct vtimer {
+ xtimer_t timer;
+ msg_t msg;
+} vtimer_t;
+
+/**
+ * @brief Current system time
+ * @return Time as timex_t since system boot
+ * @deprecated
+ */
+void vtimer_now(timex_t *out);
+
+/**
+ * @brief will cause the calling thread to be suspended from excecution until the time specified by time has elapsed
+ * @param[in] time timex_t with time to suspend execution
+ * @return 0 on success, < 0 on error
+ * @deprecated
+ */
+int vtimer_sleep(timex_t time);
+
+/**
+ * @brief receive a message but return in case of timeout time is passed by without a new message
+ * @param[out] m pointer to a msg_t which will be filled in case of no timeout
+ * @param[in] timeout timex_t containing the relative time to fire the timeout
+ * @return < 0 on error, other value otherwise
+ * @deprecated
+ */
+int vtimer_msg_receive_timeout(msg_t *m, timex_t timeout);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Returns the current time in broken down format
+ * @param[out] localt Pointer to structure to receive time
+ * @deprecated
+ */
+void vtimer_get_localtime(struct tm *localt);
+
+/**
+ * @brief set a vtimer with msg event handler of the specified type
+ * @param[in] t pointer to preinitialised vtimer_t
+ * @param[in] interval vtimer timex_t interval
+ * @param[in] pid process id
+ * @param[in] type value for the msg_t type
+ * @param[in] ptr message value
+ * @deprecated
+ */
+void vtimer_set_msg(vtimer_t *t, timex_t interval, kernel_pid_t pid, uint16_t type, void *ptr);
+
+/**
+ * @brief set a vtimer with wakeup event
+ * @param[in] t pointer to preinitialised vtimer_t
+ * @param[in] interval the interval after which the timer shall fire
+ * @param[in] pid process id
+ * @return 0 on success, < 0 on error
+ */
+int vtimer_set_wakeup(vtimer_t *t, timex_t interval, kernel_pid_t pid);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Get the current time in seconds and microseconds since system start
+ * @param[in] tp Uptime will be stored in the timeval structure pointed to by tp
+ */
+void vtimer_gettimeofday(struct timeval *tp);
+
+/**
+ * @brief remove a vtimer
+ * @param[in] t pointer to preinitialised vtimer_t
+ * @deprecated
+ */
+void vtimer_remove(vtimer_t *t);
+
+/**
+ * @brief will cause the calling thread to be suspended from excecution until the number of microseconds has elapsed
+ * @param[in] us number of microseconds
+ * @return 0 on success, < 0 on error
+ */
+static inline int vtimer_usleep(uint32_t us)
+{
+ xtimer_usleep(us);
+ return 0;
+}
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+/** @} */
+#endif /* VTIMER_H */