diff --git a/tools/patman/cros_subprocess.py b/tools/patman/cros_subprocess.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0fc4a06b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/patman/cros_subprocess.py
@@ -0,0 +1,397 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2012 The Chromium OS Authors.
+# Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+# found in the LICENSE file.
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2003-2005 by Peter Astrand <astrand@lysator.liu.se>
+# Licensed to PSF under a Contributor Agreement.
+# See http://www.python.org/2.4/license for licensing details.
+
+"""Subprocress execution
+
+This module holds a subclass of subprocess.Popen with our own required
+features, mainly that we get access to the subprocess output while it
+is running rather than just at the end. This makes it easiler to show
+progress information and filter output in real time.
+"""
+
+import errno
+import os
+import pty
+import select
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import unittest
+
+
+# Import these here so the caller does not need to import subprocess also.
+PIPE = subprocess.PIPE
+STDOUT = subprocess.STDOUT
+PIPE_PTY = -3     # Pipe output through a pty
+stay_alive = True
+
+
+class Popen(subprocess.Popen):
+    """Like subprocess.Popen with ptys and incremental output
+
+    This class deals with running a child process and filtering its output on
+    both stdout and stderr while it is running. We do this so we can monitor
+    progress, and possibly relay the output to the user if requested.
+
+    The class is similar to subprocess.Popen, the equivalent is something like:
+
+        Popen(args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+
+    But this class has many fewer features, and two enhancement:
+
+    1. Rather than getting the output data only at the end, this class sends it
+         to a provided operation as it arrives.
+    2. We use pseudo terminals so that the child will hopefully flush its output
+         to us as soon as it is produced, rather than waiting for the end of a
+         line.
+
+    Use CommunicateFilter() to handle output from the subprocess.
+
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, args, stdin=None, stdout=PIPE_PTY, stderr=PIPE_PTY,
+                 shell=False, cwd=None, env=None, **kwargs):
+        """Cut-down constructor
+
+        Args:
+            args: Program and arguments for subprocess to execute.
+            stdin: See subprocess.Popen()
+            stdout: See subprocess.Popen(), except that we support the sentinel
+                    value of cros_subprocess.PIPE_PTY.
+            stderr: See subprocess.Popen(), except that we support the sentinel
+                    value of cros_subprocess.PIPE_PTY.
+            shell: See subprocess.Popen()
+            cwd: Working directory to change to for subprocess, or None if none.
+            env: Environment to use for this subprocess, or None to inherit parent.
+            kwargs: No other arguments are supported at the moment.    Passing other
+                    arguments will cause a ValueError to be raised.
+        """
+        stdout_pty = None
+        stderr_pty = None
+
+        if stdout == PIPE_PTY:
+            stdout_pty = pty.openpty()
+            stdout = os.fdopen(stdout_pty[1])
+        if stderr == PIPE_PTY:
+            stderr_pty = pty.openpty()
+            stderr = os.fdopen(stderr_pty[1])
+
+        super(Popen, self).__init__(args, stdin=stdin,
+                stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr, shell=shell, cwd=cwd, env=env,
+                **kwargs)
+
+        # If we're on a PTY, we passed the slave half of the PTY to the subprocess.
+        # We want to use the master half on our end from now on.    Setting this here
+        # does make some assumptions about the implementation of subprocess, but
+        # those assumptions are pretty minor.
+
+        # Note that if stderr is STDOUT, then self.stderr will be set to None by
+        # this constructor.
+        if stdout_pty is not None:
+            self.stdout = os.fdopen(stdout_pty[0])
+        if stderr_pty is not None:
+            self.stderr = os.fdopen(stderr_pty[0])
+
+        # Insist that unit tests exist for other arguments we don't support.
+        if kwargs:
+            raise ValueError("Unit tests do not test extra args - please add tests")
+
+    def CommunicateFilter(self, output):
+        """Interact with process: Read data from stdout and stderr.
+
+        This method runs until end-of-file is reached, then waits for the
+        subprocess to terminate.
+
+        The output function is sent all output from the subprocess and must be
+        defined like this:
+
+            def Output([self,] stream, data)
+            Args:
+                stream: the stream the output was received on, which will be
+                        sys.stdout or sys.stderr.
+                data: a string containing the data
+
+        Note: The data read is buffered in memory, so do not use this
+        method if the data size is large or unlimited.
+
+        Args:
+            output: Function to call with each fragment of output.
+
+        Returns:
+            A tuple (stdout, stderr, combined) which is the data received on
+            stdout, stderr and the combined data (interleaved stdout and stderr).
+
+            Note that the interleaved output will only be sensible if you have
+            set both stdout and stderr to PIPE or PIPE_PTY. Even then it depends on
+            the timing of the output in the subprocess. If a subprocess flips
+            between stdout and stderr quickly in succession, by the time we come to
+            read the output from each we may see several lines in each, and will read
+            all the stdout lines, then all the stderr lines. So the interleaving
+            may not be correct. In this case you might want to pass
+            stderr=cros_subprocess.STDOUT to the constructor.
+
+            This feature is still useful for subprocesses where stderr is
+            rarely used and indicates an error.
+
+            Note also that if you set stderr to STDOUT, then stderr will be empty
+            and the combined output will just be the same as stdout.
+        """
+
+        read_set = []
+        write_set = []
+        stdout = None # Return
+        stderr = None # Return
+
+        if self.stdin:
+            # Flush stdio buffer.    This might block, if the user has
+            # been writing to .stdin in an uncontrolled fashion.
+            self.stdin.flush()
+            if input:
+                write_set.append(self.stdin)
+            else:
+                self.stdin.close()
+        if self.stdout:
+            read_set.append(self.stdout)
+            stdout = []
+        if self.stderr and self.stderr != self.stdout:
+            read_set.append(self.stderr)
+            stderr = []
+        combined = []
+
+        input_offset = 0
+        while read_set or write_set:
+            try:
+                rlist, wlist, _ = select.select(read_set, write_set, [], 0.2)
+            except select.error, e:
+                if e.args[0] == errno.EINTR:
+                    continue
+                raise
+
+            if not stay_alive:
+                    self.terminate()
+
+            if self.stdin in wlist:
+                # When select has indicated that the file is writable,
+                # we can write up to PIPE_BUF bytes without risk
+                # blocking.    POSIX defines PIPE_BUF >= 512
+                chunk = input[input_offset : input_offset + 512]
+                bytes_written = os.write(self.stdin.fileno(), chunk)
+                input_offset += bytes_written
+                if input_offset >= len(input):
+                    self.stdin.close()
+                    write_set.remove(self.stdin)
+
+            if self.stdout in rlist:
+                data = ""
+                # We will get an error on read if the pty is closed
+                try:
+                    data = os.read(self.stdout.fileno(), 1024)
+                except OSError:
+                    pass
+                if data == "":
+                    self.stdout.close()
+                    read_set.remove(self.stdout)
+                else:
+                    stdout.append(data)
+                    combined.append(data)
+                    if output:
+                        output(sys.stdout, data)
+            if self.stderr in rlist:
+                data = ""
+                # We will get an error on read if the pty is closed
+                try:
+                    data = os.read(self.stderr.fileno(), 1024)
+                except OSError:
+                    pass
+                if data == "":
+                    self.stderr.close()
+                    read_set.remove(self.stderr)
+                else:
+                    stderr.append(data)
+                    combined.append(data)
+                    if output:
+                        output(sys.stderr, data)
+
+        # All data exchanged.    Translate lists into strings.
+        if stdout is not None:
+            stdout = ''.join(stdout)
+        else:
+            stdout = ''
+        if stderr is not None:
+            stderr = ''.join(stderr)
+        else:
+            stderr = ''
+        combined = ''.join(combined)
+
+        # Translate newlines, if requested.    We cannot let the file
+        # object do the translation: It is based on stdio, which is
+        # impossible to combine with select (unless forcing no
+        # buffering).
+        if self.universal_newlines and hasattr(file, 'newlines'):
+            if stdout:
+                stdout = self._translate_newlines(stdout)
+            if stderr:
+                stderr = self._translate_newlines(stderr)
+
+        self.wait()
+        return (stdout, stderr, combined)
+
+
+# Just being a unittest.TestCase gives us 14 public methods.    Unless we
+# disable this, we can only have 6 tests in a TestCase.    That's not enough.
+#
+# pylint: disable=R0904
+
+class TestSubprocess(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Our simple unit test for this module"""
+
+    class MyOperation:
+        """Provides a operation that we can pass to Popen"""
+        def __init__(self, input_to_send=None):
+            """Constructor to set up the operation and possible input.
+
+            Args:
+                input_to_send: a text string to send when we first get input. We will
+                    add \r\n to the string.
+            """
+            self.stdout_data = ''
+            self.stderr_data = ''
+            self.combined_data = ''
+            self.stdin_pipe = None
+            self._input_to_send = input_to_send
+            if input_to_send:
+                pipe = os.pipe()
+                self.stdin_read_pipe = pipe[0]
+                self._stdin_write_pipe = os.fdopen(pipe[1], 'w')
+
+        def Output(self, stream, data):
+            """Output handler for Popen. Stores the data for later comparison"""
+            if stream == sys.stdout:
+                self.stdout_data += data
+            if stream == sys.stderr:
+                self.stderr_data += data
+            self.combined_data += data
+
+            # Output the input string if we have one.
+            if self._input_to_send:
+                self._stdin_write_pipe.write(self._input_to_send + '\r\n')
+                self._stdin_write_pipe.flush()
+
+    def _BasicCheck(self, plist, oper):
+        """Basic checks that the output looks sane."""
+        self.assertEqual(plist[0], oper.stdout_data)
+        self.assertEqual(plist[1], oper.stderr_data)
+        self.assertEqual(plist[2], oper.combined_data)
+
+        # The total length of stdout and stderr should equal the combined length
+        self.assertEqual(len(plist[0]) + len(plist[1]), len(plist[2]))
+
+    def test_simple(self):
+        """Simple redirection: Get process list"""
+        oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+        plist = Popen(['ps']).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+        self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+
+    def test_stderr(self):
+        """Check stdout and stderr"""
+        oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+        cmd = 'echo fred >/dev/stderr && false || echo bad'
+        plist = Popen([cmd], shell=True).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+        self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+        self.assertEqual(plist [0], 'bad\r\n')
+        self.assertEqual(plist [1], 'fred\r\n')
+
+    def test_shell(self):
+        """Check with and without shell works"""
+        oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+        cmd = 'echo test >/dev/stderr'
+        self.assertRaises(OSError, Popen, [cmd], shell=False)
+        plist = Popen([cmd], shell=True).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+        self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+        self.assertEqual(len(plist [0]), 0)
+        self.assertEqual(plist [1], 'test\r\n')
+
+    def test_list_args(self):
+        """Check with and without shell works using list arguments"""
+        oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+        cmd = ['echo', 'test', '>/dev/stderr']
+        plist = Popen(cmd, shell=False).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+        self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+        self.assertEqual(plist [0], ' '.join(cmd[1:]) + '\r\n')
+        self.assertEqual(len(plist [1]), 0)
+
+        oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+
+        # this should be interpreted as 'echo' with the other args dropped
+        cmd = ['echo', 'test', '>/dev/stderr']
+        plist = Popen(cmd, shell=True).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+        self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+        self.assertEqual(plist [0], '\r\n')
+
+    def test_cwd(self):
+        """Check we can change directory"""
+        for shell in (False, True):
+            oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+            plist = Popen('pwd', shell=shell, cwd='/tmp').CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+            self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+            self.assertEqual(plist [0], '/tmp\r\n')
+
+    def test_env(self):
+        """Check we can change environment"""
+        for add in (False, True):
+            oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+            env = os.environ
+            if add:
+                env ['FRED'] = 'fred'
+            cmd = 'echo $FRED'
+            plist = Popen(cmd, shell=True, env=env).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+            self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+            self.assertEqual(plist [0], add and 'fred\r\n' or '\r\n')
+
+    def test_extra_args(self):
+        """Check we can't add extra arguments"""
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, Popen, 'true', close_fds=False)
+
+    def test_basic_input(self):
+        """Check that incremental input works
+
+        We set up a subprocess which will prompt for name. When we see this prompt
+        we send the name as input to the process. It should then print the name
+        properly to stdout.
+        """
+        oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation('Flash')
+        prompt = 'What is your name?: '
+        cmd = 'echo -n "%s"; read name; echo Hello $name' % prompt
+        plist = Popen([cmd], stdin=oper.stdin_read_pipe,
+                shell=True).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+        self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+        self.assertEqual(len(plist [1]), 0)
+        self.assertEqual(plist [0], prompt + 'Hello Flash\r\r\n')
+
+    def test_isatty(self):
+        """Check that ptys appear as terminals to the subprocess"""
+        oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+        cmd = ('if [ -t %d ]; then echo "terminal %d" >&%d; '
+                'else echo "not %d" >&%d; fi;')
+        both_cmds = ''
+        for fd in (1, 2):
+            both_cmds += cmd % (fd, fd, fd, fd, fd)
+        plist = Popen(both_cmds, shell=True).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+        self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+        self.assertEqual(plist [0], 'terminal 1\r\n')
+        self.assertEqual(plist [1], 'terminal 2\r\n')
+
+        # Now try with PIPE and make sure it is not a terminal
+        oper = TestSubprocess.MyOperation()
+        plist = Popen(both_cmds, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+                shell=True).CommunicateFilter(oper.Output)
+        self._BasicCheck(plist, oper)
+        self.assertEqual(plist [0], 'not 1\n')
+        self.assertEqual(plist [1], 'not 2\n')
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()