diff --git a/include/villas/io/msg_format.h b/include/villas/io/msg_format.h
index 3b544e09f..92746b548 100644
--- a/include/villas/io/msg_format.h
+++ b/include/villas/io/msg_format.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #define MSG_VERSION		2
 
 /** @todo Implement more message types */
-#define MSG_TYPE_DATA		0 /**< Message contains float values */
+#define MSG_TYPE_DATA		0 /**< Message contains float / integer values */
 #define MSG_TYPE_START		1 /**< Message marks the beginning of a new simulation case */
 #define MSG_TYPE_STOP		2 /**< Message marks the end of a simulation case */
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ struct msg
   #error Invalid byte-order
 #endif
 
-	uint8_t id;		/**< An id which identifies the source of this sample */
+	uint8_t id;		/**< An id which identifies the source of this sample. */
 	uint16_t length;	/**< The number of values in msg::data[]. */
 	uint32_t sequence;	/**< The sequence number is incremented by one for consecutive messages. */
 
diff --git a/include/villas/io/protobuf.h b/include/villas/io/protobuf.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..abba82533
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/villas/io/protobuf.h
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/** Protobuf IO format
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @author Steffen Vogel <stvogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>
+ * @copyright 2017, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+ * @license GNU General Public License (version 3)
+ *
+ * VILLASnode
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *********************************************************************************/
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+/* Forward declarations */
+struct sample;
+
+/** Copy / read struct msg's from buffer \p buf to / fram samples \p smps. */
+int protobuf_sprint(char *buf, size_t len, size_t *wbytes, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt, int flags);
+
+/** Read struct sample's from buffer \p buf into samples \p smps. */
+int protobuf_sscan(char *buf, size_t len, size_t *rbytes, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt, int flags);
diff --git a/lib/io/.gitignore b/lib/io/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69330092e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/io/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Generated code by Protobuf-c
+*.pb-c.h
+*.pb-c.c
diff --git a/lib/io/Makefile.inc b/lib/io/Makefile.inc
index 827679ed0..b08b4b684 100644
--- a/lib/io/Makefile.inc
+++ b/lib/io/Makefile.inc
@@ -21,3 +21,20 @@
 ###################################################################################
 
 LIB_SRCS += $(addprefix lib/io/,json.c villas_binary.c villas_human.c csv.c raw.c msg.c)
+
+WITH_PROTOBUF ?= 1
+
+# Enable Google Protobuf IO format
+ifeq ($(WITH_PROTOBUF),1)
+ifeq ($(shell $(PKGCONFIG) libprotobuf-c; echo $$?),0)
+	LIB_SRCS += lib/io/protobuf.c lib/io/villas.pb-c.c
+	LIB_PKGS += libprotobuf-c
+endif
+endif
+
+%.pb-c.h: %.proto
+	protoc-c --proto_path=$(SRCDIR) --c_out=$(SRCDIR) $(realpath $^)
+
+lib/io/villas.pb-c.c \
+lib/io/protobuf.c: | lib/io/villas.pb-c.h
+
diff --git a/lib/io/protobuf.c b/lib/io/protobuf.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3023ee230
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/io/protobuf.c
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+/** Protobuf IO format
+ *
+ * @author Steffen Vogel <stvogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>
+ * @copyright 2017, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+ * @license GNU General Public License (version 3)
+ *
+ * VILLASnode
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *********************************************************************************/
+
+// Generated message descriptors by protoc
+#include "villas.pb-c.h"
+
+#include "sample.h"
+#include "plugin.h"
+#include "io/protobuf.h"
+
+int protobuf_sprint(char *buf, size_t len, size_t *wbytes, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt, int flags)
+{
+	unsigned psz;
+
+	Villas__Node__Message *pb_msg = alloc(sizeof(Villas__Node__Message));
+	villas__node__message__init(pb_msg);
+
+	pb_msg->n_samples = cnt;
+	pb_msg->samples = alloc(pb_msg->n_samples * sizeof(Villas__Node__Sample *));
+
+	for (unsigned i = 0; i < pb_msg->n_samples; i++) {
+		Villas__Node__Sample *pb_smp = pb_msg->samples[i] = alloc(sizeof(Villas__Node__Sample));
+		villas__node__sample__init(pb_smp);
+
+		struct sample *smp = smps[i];
+
+		pb_smp->type = VILLAS__NODE__SAMPLE__TYPE__DATA;
+		pb_smp->sequence = smp->sequence;
+		pb_smp->id = smp->id;
+
+		pb_smp->timestamp = alloc(sizeof(Villas__Node__Timestamp));
+		villas__node__timestamp__init(pb_smp->timestamp);
+
+		pb_smp->timestamp->sec = smp->ts.origin.tv_sec;
+		pb_smp->timestamp->nsec = smp->ts.origin.tv_nsec;
+
+		pb_smp->n_values = smp->length;
+		pb_smp->values = alloc(pb_smp->n_values * sizeof(Villas__Node__Value *));
+
+		for (unsigned j = 0; j < pb_smp->n_values; j++) {
+			Villas__Node__Value *pb_val = pb_smp->values[j] = alloc(sizeof(Villas__Node__Value));
+			villas__node__value__init(pb_val);
+
+			enum sample_data_format fmt = sample_get_data_format(smp, j);
+
+			switch (fmt) {
+				case SAMPLE_DATA_FORMAT_FLOAT:	pb_val->value_case = VILLAS__NODE__VALUE__VALUE_F; pb_val->f = smp->data[j].f;	break;
+				case SAMPLE_DATA_FORMAT_INT:	pb_val->value_case = VILLAS__NODE__VALUE__VALUE_I; pb_val->i = smp->data[j].i;	break;
+				default:			pb_val->value_case = VILLAS__NODE__VALUE__VALUE__NOT_SET;			break;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	psz = villas__node__message__get_packed_size(pb_msg);
+
+	if (psz > len)
+		goto out;
+
+	villas__node__message__pack(pb_msg, (uint8_t *) buf);
+	villas__node__message__free_unpacked(pb_msg, NULL);
+
+	*wbytes = psz;
+
+	return cnt;
+
+out:
+	villas__node__message__free_unpacked(pb_msg, NULL);
+
+	return -1;
+}
+
+int protobuf_sscan(char *buf, size_t len, size_t *rbytes, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt, int flags)
+{
+	unsigned i, j;
+	Villas__Node__Message *pb_msg;
+
+	pb_msg = villas__node__message__unpack(NULL, len, (uint8_t *) buf);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < MIN(pb_msg->n_samples, cnt); i++) {
+		struct sample *smp = smps[i];
+		Villas__Node__Sample *pb_smp = pb_msg->samples[i];
+
+		if (pb_smp->type != VILLAS__NODE__SAMPLE__TYPE__DATA) {
+			warn("Parsed non supported message type");
+			break;
+		}
+
+		smp->sequence = pb_smp->sequence;
+
+		if (pb_smp->has_id)
+			smp->id	= pb_smp->id;
+
+		if (pb_smp->timestamp) {
+			smp->ts.origin.tv_sec = pb_smp->timestamp->sec;
+			smp->ts.origin.tv_nsec = pb_smp->timestamp->nsec;
+		}
+
+		for (j = 0; j < MIN(pb_smp->n_values, smp->capacity); j++) {
+			Villas__Node__Value *pb_val = pb_smp->values[j];
+
+			enum sample_data_format fmt = pb_val->value_case == VILLAS__NODE__VALUE__VALUE_F
+							? SAMPLE_DATA_FORMAT_FLOAT
+							: SAMPLE_DATA_FORMAT_INT;
+
+			switch (fmt) {
+				case SAMPLE_DATA_FORMAT_FLOAT:	smp->data[j].f = pb_val->f; break;
+				case SAMPLE_DATA_FORMAT_INT:	smp->data[j].i = pb_val->i; break;
+				default: { }
+			}
+
+			sample_set_data_format(smp, j, fmt);
+		}
+
+		smp->length = j;
+	}
+
+	*rbytes = villas__node__message__get_packed_size(pb_msg);
+
+	villas__node__message__free_unpacked(pb_msg, NULL);
+
+	return i;
+}
+
+static struct plugin p = {
+	.name = "protobuf",
+	.description = "Google Protobuf",
+	.type = PLUGIN_TYPE_IO,
+	.io = {
+		.sprint = protobuf_sprint,
+		.sscan  = protobuf_sscan
+	}
+};
+REGISTER_PLUGIN(&p);
diff --git a/lib/io/villas.proto b/lib/io/villas.proto
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e32539de7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/io/villas.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/// Protobuf schema based on msg_format.h
+///
+/// @file
+/// @author Steffen Vogel <stvogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>
+/// @copyright 2017, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+/// @license GNU General Public License (version 3)
+///
+/// VILLASnode
+///
+/// This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+/// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+/// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+/// any later version.
+///
+/// This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+/// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+/// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+/// GNU General Public License for more details.
+///
+/// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+/// along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+package villas.node;
+
+message Message {
+	repeated Sample samples = 1;
+}
+
+message Sample {
+	enum Type {
+		DATA = 1;				// Message contains float / integer data values
+		START = 2;				// Message marks the beginning of a new simulation case
+		STOP = 3;				// Message marks the end of a simulation case
+	};
+
+	required Type type = 1 [default = DATA];
+	required uint32 sequence = 2;			// The sequence number is incremented by one for consecutive messages.
+	optional uint32 id = 3;				// An id which identifies the source of this sample.
+	optional Timestamp timestamp = 4;
+	repeated Value values = 5;
+}
+
+message Timestamp {
+	required uint32 sec = 1;			// Seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00
+	required uint32 nsec = 2;			// Nanoseconds of the current second.
+}
+
+message Value {
+	oneof value {
+		float f = 1;				// Floating point values.
+		int32 i = 2;                            // Integer values.
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tests/integration/pipe-loopback-socket.sh b/tests/integration/pipe-loopback-socket.sh
index abd1901b9..9396b118e 100755
--- a/tests/integration/pipe-loopback-socket.sh
+++ b/tests/integration/pipe-loopback-socket.sh
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ NUM_SAMPLES=${NUM_SAMPLES:-100}
 # Generate test data
 villas-signal random -l ${NUM_SAMPLES} -n > ${INPUT_FILE}
 
-for FORMAT in villas-human villas-binary villas-web csv json gtnet-fake raw-flt32; do
+for FORMAT in villas-human villas-binary villas-web csv json gtnet-fake raw-flt32 protobuf; do
 for LAYER in udp ip eth unix; do
 for VERIFY_SOURCE in true false; do