diff --git a/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/PublishConfig.java b/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/PublishConfig.java
index 8295484..96d257c 100644
--- a/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/PublishConfig.java
+++ b/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/PublishConfig.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 
 /**
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@
     /**
      * @hide
      */
-    public final String mServiceName;
+    public final byte[] mServiceName;
 
     /**
      * @hide
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@
      */
     public final boolean mEnableTerminateNotification;
 
-    private PublishConfig(String serviceName, byte[] serviceSpecificInfo,
+    private PublishConfig(byte[] serviceName, byte[] serviceSpecificInfo,
             int serviceSpecificInfoLength, byte[] txFilter, int txFilterLength, byte[] rxFilter,
             int rxFilterLength, int publishType, int publichCount, int ttlSec,
             boolean enableTerminateNotification) {
@@ -147,7 +148,10 @@
 
     @Override
     public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {
-        dest.writeString(mServiceName);
+        dest.writeInt(mServiceName.length);
+        if (mServiceName.length != 0) {
+            dest.writeByteArray(mServiceName);
+        }
         dest.writeInt(mServiceSpecificInfoLength);
         if (mServiceSpecificInfoLength != 0) {
             dest.writeByteArray(mServiceSpecificInfo, 0, mServiceSpecificInfoLength);
@@ -174,7 +178,11 @@
 
         @Override
         public PublishConfig createFromParcel(Parcel in) {
-            String serviceName = in.readString();
+            int serviceNameLength = in.readInt();
+            byte[] serviceName = new byte[serviceNameLength];
+            if (serviceNameLength != 0) {
+                in.readByteArray(serviceName);
+            }
             int ssiLength = in.readInt();
             byte[] ssi = new byte[ssiLength];
             if (ssiLength != 0) {
@@ -213,7 +221,7 @@
 
         PublishConfig lhs = (PublishConfig) o;
 
-        if (!mServiceName.equals(lhs.mServiceName)
+        if (!Arrays.equals(mServiceName, lhs.mServiceName)
                 || mServiceSpecificInfoLength != lhs.mServiceSpecificInfoLength
                 || mTxFilterLength != lhs.mTxFilterLength
                 || mRxFilterLength != lhs.mRxFilterLength) {
@@ -259,7 +267,7 @@
     public int hashCode() {
         int result = 17;
 
-        result = 31 * result + mServiceName.hashCode();
+        result = 31 * result + Arrays.hashCode(mServiceName);
         result = 31 * result + mServiceSpecificInfoLength;
         result = 31 * result + Arrays.hashCode(mServiceSpecificInfo);
         result = 31 * result + mTxFilterLength;
@@ -281,6 +289,8 @@
      * @hide
      */
     public void validate() throws IllegalArgumentException {
+        WifiNanUtils.validateServiceName(mServiceName);
+
         if (mServiceSpecificInfoLength != 0 && (mServiceSpecificInfo == null
                 || mServiceSpecificInfo.length < mServiceSpecificInfoLength)) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Non-matching combination of "
@@ -317,7 +327,7 @@
      * Builder used to build {@link PublishConfig} objects.
      */
     public static final class Builder {
-        private String mServiceName;
+        private byte[] mServiceName;
         private int mServiceSpecificInfoLength;
         private byte[] mServiceSpecificInfo = new byte[0];
         private int mTxFilterLength;
@@ -333,12 +343,20 @@
          * Specify the service name of the publish session. The actual on-air
          * value is a 6 byte hashed representation of this string.
          *
+         * Per spec: The Service Name is a UTF-8 encoded string from 1 to 255 bytes in length.
+         * The only acceptable single-byte UTF-8 symbols for a Service Name are alphanumeric
+         * values (A-Z, a-z, 0-9), the hyphen ('-'), and the period ('.'). All valid multi-byte
+         * UTF-8 characters are acceptable in a Service Name.
+         *
          * @param serviceName The service name for the publish session.
          * @return The builder to facilitate chaining
          *         {@code builder.setXXX(..).setXXX(..)}.
          */
         public Builder setServiceName(@NonNull String serviceName) {
-            mServiceName = serviceName;
+            if (serviceName == null) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid service name - must be non-null");
+            }
+            mServiceName = serviceName.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
             return this;
         }
 
diff --git a/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/SubscribeConfig.java b/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/SubscribeConfig.java
index 6ef4dfa..3133d3e 100644
--- a/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/SubscribeConfig.java
+++ b/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/SubscribeConfig.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 
 /**
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@
     /**
      * @hide
      */
-    public final String mServiceName;
+    public final byte[] mServiceName;
 
     /**
      * @hide
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@
      */
     public final boolean mEnableTerminateNotification;
 
-    private SubscribeConfig(String serviceName, byte[] serviceSpecificInfo,
+    private SubscribeConfig(byte[] serviceName, byte[] serviceSpecificInfo,
             int serviceSpecificInfoLength, byte[] txFilter, int txFilterLength, byte[] rxFilter,
             int rxFilterLength, int subscribeType, int publichCount, int ttlSec, int matchStyle,
             boolean enableTerminateNotification) {
@@ -171,7 +172,10 @@
 
     @Override
     public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {
-        dest.writeString(mServiceName);
+        dest.writeInt(mServiceName.length);
+        if (mServiceName.length != 0) {
+            dest.writeByteArray(mServiceName);
+        }
         dest.writeInt(mServiceSpecificInfoLength);
         if (mServiceSpecificInfoLength != 0) {
             dest.writeByteArray(mServiceSpecificInfo, 0, mServiceSpecificInfoLength);
@@ -199,7 +203,11 @@
 
         @Override
         public SubscribeConfig createFromParcel(Parcel in) {
-            String serviceName = in.readString();
+            int serviceNameLength = in.readInt();
+            byte[] serviceName = new byte[serviceNameLength];
+            if (serviceNameLength != 0) {
+                in.readByteArray(serviceName);
+            }
             int ssiLength = in.readInt();
             byte[] ssi = new byte[ssiLength];
             if (ssiLength != 0) {
@@ -239,7 +247,7 @@
 
         SubscribeConfig lhs = (SubscribeConfig) o;
 
-        if (!mServiceName.equals(lhs.mServiceName)
+        if (!Arrays.equals(mServiceName, lhs.mServiceName)
                 || mServiceSpecificInfoLength != lhs.mServiceSpecificInfoLength
                 || mTxFilterLength != lhs.mTxFilterLength
                 || mRxFilterLength != lhs.mRxFilterLength) {
@@ -285,7 +293,7 @@
     public int hashCode() {
         int result = 17;
 
-        result = 31 * result + mServiceName.hashCode();
+        result = 31 * result + Arrays.hashCode(mServiceName);
         result = 31 * result + mServiceSpecificInfoLength;
         result = 31 * result + Arrays.hashCode(mServiceSpecificInfo);
         result = 31 * result + mTxFilterLength;
@@ -308,6 +316,8 @@
      * @hide
      */
     public void validate() throws IllegalArgumentException {
+        WifiNanUtils.validateServiceName(mServiceName);
+
         if (mServiceSpecificInfoLength != 0 && (mServiceSpecificInfo == null
                 || mServiceSpecificInfo.length < mServiceSpecificInfoLength)) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Non-matching combination of "
@@ -348,7 +358,7 @@
      * Builder used to build {@link SubscribeConfig} objects.
      */
     public static final class Builder {
-        private String mServiceName;
+        private byte[] mServiceName;
         private int mServiceSpecificInfoLength;
         private byte[] mServiceSpecificInfo = new byte[0];
         private int mTxFilterLength;
@@ -365,12 +375,20 @@
          * Specify the service name of the subscribe session. The actual on-air
          * value is a 6 byte hashed representation of this string.
          *
+         * Per spec: The Service Name is a UTF-8 encoded string from 1 to 255 bytes in length.
+         * The only acceptable single-byte UTF-8 symbols for a Service Name are alphanumeric
+         * values (A-Z, a-z, 0-9), the hyphen ('-'), and the period ('.'). All valid multi-byte
+         * UTF-8 characters are acceptable in a Service Name.
+         *
          * @param serviceName The service name for the subscribe session.
          * @return The builder to facilitate chaining
          *         {@code builder.setXXX(..).setXXX(..)}.
          */
         public Builder setServiceName(@NonNull String serviceName) {
-            mServiceName = serviceName;
+            if (serviceName == null) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid service name - must be non-null");
+            }
+            mServiceName = serviceName.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
             return this;
         }
 
diff --git a/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/WifiNanUtils.java b/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/WifiNanUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0f36b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wifi/java/android/net/wifi/nan/WifiNanUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2016 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package android.net.wifi.nan;
+
+/**
+ * Provides utilities for the Wifi NAN manager/service.
+ *
+ * @hide
+ */
+public class WifiNanUtils {
+    /**
+     * Per spec: The Service Name is a UTF-8 encoded string from 1 to 255 bytes in length. The
+     * only acceptable single-byte UTF-8 symbols for a Service Name are alphanumeric values (A-Z,
+     * a-z, 0-9), the hyphen ('-'), and the period ('.'). All valid multi-byte UTF-8 characters
+     * are acceptable in a Service Name.
+     */
+    public static void validateServiceName(byte[] serviceNameData) throws IllegalArgumentException {
+        if (serviceNameData == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid service name - null");
+        }
+
+        if (serviceNameData.length < 1 || serviceNameData.length > 255) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid service name length - must be between "
+                    + "1 and 255 bytes (UTF-8 encoding)");
+        }
+
+        int index = 0;
+        while (index < serviceNameData.length) {
+            byte b = serviceNameData[index];
+            if ((b & 0x80) == 0x00) {
+                if (!((b >= '0' && b <= '9') || (b >= 'a' && b <= 'z') || (b >= 'A' && b <= 'Z')
+                        || b == '-' || b == '.')) {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid service name - illegal characters,"
+                            + " allowed = (0-9, a-z,A-Z, -, .)");
+                }
+            }
+            ++index;
+        }
+    }
+}