diff --git a/src/mem/ruby/protocol/RubySlicc_Util.sm b/src/mem/ruby/protocol/RubySlicc_Util.sm
index b8b005a..70648ec 100644
--- a/src/mem/ruby/protocol/RubySlicc_Util.sm
+++ b/src/mem/ruby/protocol/RubySlicc_Util.sm
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 int IDToInt(NodeID id);
 int addressToInt(Addr addr);
 Addr intToAddress(int addr);
+int addressOffset(Addr addr, Addr base);
 int max_tokens();
 Addr makeLineAddress(Addr addr);
 int getOffset(Addr addr);
diff --git a/src/mem/ruby/slicc_interface/RubySlicc_Util.hh b/src/mem/ruby/slicc_interface/RubySlicc_Util.hh
index b51b30c..b568425 100644
--- a/src/mem/ruby/slicc_interface/RubySlicc_Util.hh
+++ b/src/mem/ruby/slicc_interface/RubySlicc_Util.hh
@@ -169,6 +169,16 @@
     }
 }
 
+inline int
+addressOffset(Addr addr, Addr base)
+{
+    assert(addr >= base);
+    Addr offset = addr - base;
+    // sanity checks if fits in an int
+    assert(offset < INT_MAX);
+    return offset;
+}
+
 /**
  * This function accepts an address, a data block and a packet. If the address
  * range for the data block contains the address which the packet needs to