diff --git a/sw/lib/ocaml/ocaml_tools.ml b/sw/lib/ocaml/ocaml_tools.ml
index b32435ac91..66cdbfdf0f 100644
--- a/sw/lib/ocaml/ocaml_tools.ml
+++ b/sw/lib/ocaml/ocaml_tools.ml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
  *
  *)
 
-
+let pi = 3.14159265358979323846;;
 
 let open_compress file = 
   if Filename.check_suffix file "gz" or Filename.check_suffix file "Z" or
@@ -54,3 +54,16 @@ let affine_transform = fun format ->
     [a;b] -> float_of_string a, float_of_string b
   | [a] -> float_of_string a, 0.
   | _ -> 1., 0.
+
+(* Box-Muller transform to generate a normal distribution from a uniform one
+ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution *)
+let normal = fun mu sigma ->
+  let u1 = Random.float 1.
+  and u2 = Random.float 1. in
+  mu +. sigma *. sqrt (-2. *. log u1) *. cos (2. *. pi *. u2)
+
+let make_1st_order_noise_generator = fun ?(init = 0.) k sigma ->
+  let x = ref init in
+  fun () ->
+    x := k *. !x +. normal 0. sigma;
+    !x
diff --git a/sw/lib/ocaml/ocaml_tools.mli b/sw/lib/ocaml/ocaml_tools.mli
index d8ab9e9677..3b945bf46d 100644
--- a/sw/lib/ocaml/ocaml_tools.mli
+++ b/sw/lib/ocaml/ocaml_tools.mli
@@ -37,3 +37,12 @@ val find_file : string list -> string -> string
 val affine_transform : string -> float * float
 (* [affine_transform format] Parses [format] as a+b and returns (a,b). Returns
 a if +b is not present. Returns 1. if the parsing fails *)
+
+val normal : float -> float -> float
+(* [normal mean stdev] Normal distribution *)
+
+val make_1st_order_noise_generator :
+  ?init:float -> float -> float -> (unit -> float)
+(* [make_1st_order_noise_generator ?init k sigma] Returns a generator
+   initialized to [init], damped by [k] with a variation of stdev [sigma].
+   0 < [k] < 1 . x_n+1 <- k x_n + normal 0 sigma . *)