diff --git a/src/basic_api.cc b/src/basic_api.cc
index 439da33..bdbaf8c 100644
--- a/src/basic_api.cc
+++ b/src/basic_api.cc
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 #include "throw_pEp_exception.hh"
 #include "jniutils.hh"
 
-using namespace pEp::JNIAdapter;
-
 extern "C" {
+    using namespace pEp::JNIAdapter;
+
 JNIEXPORT jobject JNICALL Java_org_pEp_jniadapter_Engine_trustwords(
         JNIEnv *env,
         jobject obj,
diff --git a/src/jniutils.hh b/src/jniutils.hh
index 6dca348..b7598fd 100644
--- a/src/jniutils.hh
+++ b/src/jniutils.hh
@@ -1,11 +1,90 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#include <list>
+#include <pthread.h>
 #include <jni.h>
 #include <pEp/stringpair.h>
 #include <pEp/identity_list.h>
 #include <pEp/bloblist.h>
 
 namespace pEp {
+    namespace utility {
+        using namespace std;
+
+        class mutex {
+            pthread_mutex_t _mutex;
+
+        public:
+            mutex() {
+                pthread_mutex_init(&_mutex, NULL);
+            }
+            ~mutex() {
+                pthread_mutex_destroy(&_mutex);
+            }
+            void lock() {
+                pthread_mutex_lock(&_mutex);
+            }
+            void unlock() {
+                pthread_mutex_unlock(&_mutex);
+            }
+        };
+
+        template<class T> class lock_guard {
+            T& _mtx;
+
+        public:
+            lock_guard(T& mtx) : _mtx(mtx) {
+                _mtx.lock();
+            }
+            ~lock_guard() {
+                _mtx.unlock();
+            }
+        };
+
+        template<class T> class locked_queue
+        {
+            mutex _mtx;
+            list<T> _q;
+
+        public:
+            T& back()
+            {
+                lock_guard<mutex> lg(_mtx);
+                return _q.back();
+            }
+            T& front()
+            {
+                lock_guard<mutex> lg(_mtx);
+                return _q.front();
+            }
+            void pop_back()
+            {
+                lock_guard<mutex> lg(_mtx);
+                _q.pop_back();
+            }
+            void pop_front()
+            {
+                lock_guard<mutex> lg(_mtx);
+                _q.pop_front();
+            }
+            void push_back(const T& data)
+            {
+                lock_guard<mutex> lg(_mtx);
+                _q.push_back(data);
+            }
+            void push_front(const T& data)
+            {
+                lock_guard<mutex> lg(_mtx);
+                _q.push_front(data);
+            }
+            size_t size()
+            {
+                lock_guard<mutex> lg(_mtx);
+                return _q.size();
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
     namespace JNIAdapter {
         jclass findClass(JNIEnv *env, const char *classname);
 
diff --git a/src/org/pEp/jniadapter/AbstractEngine.java b/src/org/pEp/jniadapter/AbstractEngine.java
index 48d1e91..799cd82 100644
--- a/src/org/pEp/jniadapter/AbstractEngine.java
+++ b/src/org/pEp/jniadapter/AbstractEngine.java
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@ abstract class AbstractEngine implements AutoCloseable {
         release();
     }
 
+    private long keyserverThread;
+
+    public native void startKeyserverLookup();
+    public native void stopKeyserverLookup();
+
     public static byte[] toUTF8(String str) {
         try {
             String _str = Normalizer.normalize(str, Normalizer.Form.NFC);
diff --git a/src/org_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine.cc b/src/org_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine.cc
index 26cdf16..0e2cebe 100644
--- a/src/org_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine.cc
+++ b/src/org_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine.cc
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <assert.h>
-#include <pEp/pEpEngine.h>
+#include <pthread.h>
+#include <pEp/keymanagement.h>
 
 #include "throw_pEp_exception.hh"
 #include "jniutils.hh"
@@ -62,5 +63,62 @@ extern "C" {
         else
             env->SetLongField(me, handle, jlong(0));
     }
-}
+
+    static void *start_routine(void *arg)
+    {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_org_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine_startKeyserverLookup(
+            JNIEnv *env,
+            jobject obj
+        )
+    {
+        pthread_t *thread = NULL;
+        jfieldID handle;
+
+        try {
+            handle = getFieldID(env, "org/pEp/jniadapter/Engine", "keyserverThread", "J");
+        }
+        catch (std::exception& ex) {
+            assert(0);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        thread = (pthread_t *) env->GetLongField(obj, handle);
+        if (thread)
+            return;
+ 
+        thread = (pthread_t *) calloc(1, sizeof(pthread_t));
+        assert(thread);
+        env->SetLongField(obj, handle, (jlong) thread);
+
+        pthread_create(thread, NULL, start_routine, NULL);
+    }
+
+    JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_org_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine_stopKeyserverLookup(
+            JNIEnv *env,
+            jobject obj
+        )
+    {
+        pthread_t *thread = NULL;
+        jfieldID handle;
+
+        try {
+            handle = getFieldID(env, "org/pEp/jniadapter/Engine", "keyserverThread", "J");
+        }
+        catch (std::exception& ex) {
+            assert(0);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        thread = (pthread_t *) env->GetLongField(obj, handle);
+        if (!thread)
+            return;
+ 
+        // stop thread
+    }
+
+} // extern "C"
+