diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/Duration.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/Duration.scala
index 1ab14164fe..d11168dcf5 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/Duration.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/Duration.scala
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ package akka.util
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 
 object Duration {
-  def apply(length: Long, unit: TimeUnit) = new Duration(length, unit)
-  def apply(length: Long, unit: String) = new Duration(length, timeUnit(unit))
+  def apply(length: Long, unit: TimeUnit) : Duration = new FiniteDuration(length, unit)
+  def apply(length: Long, unit: String) : Duration = new FiniteDuration(length, timeUnit(unit))
 
   def timeUnit(unit: String) = unit.toLowerCase match {
     case "nanoseconds" | "nanos" | "nanosecond" | "nano" => TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS
@@ -16,6 +16,45 @@ object Duration {
     case "milliseconds" | "millis" | "millisecond" | "milli" => TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS
     case _ => TimeUnit.SECONDS
   }
+
+  trait Infinite {
+    this : Duration =>
+
+	  override def equals(other : Any) = false
+
+	  def +(other : Duration) : Duration = this
+	  def -(other : Duration) : Duration = this
+	  def *(other : Double) : Duration = this
+	  def /(other : Double) : Duration = this
+	
+	  def finite_? = false
+	
+	  def length : Long = error("length not allowed on infinite Durations")
+	  def unit : TimeUnit = error("unit not allowed on infinite Durations")
+	  def toNanos : Long = error("toNanos not allowed on infinite Durations")
+	  def toMicros : Long = error("toMicros not allowed on infinite Durations")
+	  def toMillis : Long = error("toMillis not allowed on infinite Durations")
+	  def toSeconds : Long = error("toSeconds not allowed on infinite Durations")
+  }
+
+	object Inf extends Duration with Infinite {
+	  override def toString = "Duration.Inf"
+	  def >(other : Duration) = false
+	  def >=(other : Duration) = false
+	  def <(other : Duration) = true
+	  def <=(other : Duration) = true
+	  def unary_- : Duration = MinusInf
+	}
+
+  object MinusInf extends Duration with Infinite {
+    override def toString = "Duration.MinusInf"
+	  def >(other : Duration) = true
+	  def >=(other : Duration) = true
+	  def <(other : Duration) = false
+	  def <=(other : Duration) = false
+	  def unary_- : Duration = MinusInf
+  }
+
 }
 
 /**
@@ -53,18 +92,177 @@ object Duration {
  * val duration = 100.millis
  * </pre>
  */
-class Duration(val length: Long, val unit: TimeUnit) {
+trait Duration {
+  def length : Long
+  def unit : TimeUnit
+  def toNanos : Long
+  def toMicros : Long
+  def toMillis : Long
+  def toSeconds : Long
+  def <(other : Duration) : Boolean
+  def <=(other : Duration) : Boolean
+  def >(other : Duration) : Boolean
+  def >=(other : Duration) : Boolean
+  def +(other : Duration) : Duration
+  def -(other : Duration) : Duration
+  def *(factor : Double) : Duration
+  def /(factor : Double) : Duration
+  def unary_- : Duration
+  def finite_? : Boolean
+}
+
+class FiniteDuration(val length: Long, val unit: TimeUnit) extends Duration {
   def this(length: Long, unit: String) = this(length, Duration.timeUnit(unit))
   def toNanos = unit.toNanos(length)
   def toMicros = unit.toMicros(length)
   def toMillis = unit.toMillis(length)
   def toSeconds = unit.toSeconds(length)
   override def toString = "Duration(" + length + ", " + unit + ")"
+
+  def <(other : Duration) = {
+    if (other.finite_?) {
+      toNanos < other.asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration].toNanos
+    } else {
+      other > this
+    }
+  }
+
+  def <=(other : Duration) = {
+    if (other.finite_?) {
+      toNanos <= other.asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration].toNanos
+    } else {
+      other >= this
+    }
+  }
+
+  def >(other : Duration) = {
+    if (other.finite_?) {
+      toNanos > other.asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration].toNanos
+    } else {
+      other < this
+    }
+  }
+
+  def >=(other : Duration) = {
+    if (other.finite_?) {
+      toNanos >= other.asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration].toNanos
+    } else {
+      other <= this
+    }
+  }
+
+  private def fromNanos(nanos : Long) : Duration = {
+    if (nanos % 1000000000L == 0) {
+      Duration(nanos / 1000000000L, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    } else if (nanos % 1000000L == 0) {
+      Duration(nanos / 1000000L, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
+    } else if (nanos % 1000L == 0) {
+      Duration(nanos / 1000L, TimeUnit.MICROSECONDS)
+    } else {
+      Duration(nanos, TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS)
+    }
+  }
+
+  private def fromNanos(nanos : Double) : Duration = fromNanos(nanos.asInstanceOf[Long])
+
+  def +(other : Duration) = {
+    if (!other.finite_?) {
+      other
+    } else {
+      val nanos = toNanos + other.asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration].toNanos
+      fromNanos(nanos)
+    }
+  }
+
+  def -(other : Duration) = {
+    if (!other.finite_?) {
+      other
+    } else {
+      val nanos = toNanos - other.asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration].toNanos
+      fromNanos(nanos)
+    }
+  }
+
+  def *(factor : Double) = fromNanos(long2double(toNanos) * factor)
+
+  def /(factor : Double) = fromNanos(long2double(toNanos) / factor)
+
+  def unary_- = Duration(-length, unit)
+
+  def finite_? = true
+
+  override def equals(other : Any) =
+    other.isInstanceOf[FiniteDuration] &&
+    toNanos == other.asInstanceOf[FiniteDuration].toNanos
+
+  override def hashCode = toNanos.asInstanceOf[Int]
+}
+
+object Inf extends Duration {
+  override def toString = "Duration.Inf"
+  override def equals(other : Any) = false
+
+  def >(other : Duration) = true
+  def >=(other : Duration) = true
+  def <(other : Duration) = false
+  def <=(other : Duration) = false
+
+  def +(other : Duration) : Duration = this
+  def -(other : Duration) : Duration = this
+  def *(other : Double) : Duration = this
+  def /(other : Double) : Duration = this
+
+  def unary_- : Duration = MinusInf
+
+  def finite_? = false
+
+  def length : Long = error("length not allowed on Inf")
+  def unit : TimeUnit = error("unit not allowed on Inf")
+  def toNanos : Long = error("toNanos not allowed on Inf")
+  def toMicros : Long = error("toMicros not allowed on Inf")
+  def toMillis : Long = error("toMillis not allowed on Inf")
+  def toSeconds : Long = error("toSeconds not allowed on Inf")
+}
+
+object MinusInf extends Duration {
+  override def toString = "Duration.MinusInf"
+  override def equals(other : Any) = false
+
+  def >(other : Duration) = false
+  def >=(other : Duration) = false
+  def <(other : Duration) = true
+  def <=(other : Duration) = true
+
+  def +(other : Duration) : Duration = this
+  def -(other : Duration) : Duration = this
+  def *(other : Double) : Duration = this
+  def /(other : Double) : Duration = this
+
+  def unary_- : Duration = Inf
+
+  def finite_? = false
+
+  def length : Long = error("length not allowed on MinusInf")
+  def unit : TimeUnit = error("unit not allowed on MinusInf")
+  def toNanos : Long = error("toNanos not allowed on MinusInf")
+  def toMicros : Long = error("toMicros not allowed on MinusInf")
+  def toMillis : Long = error("toMillis not allowed on MinusInf")
+  def toSeconds : Long = error("toSeconds not allowed on MinusInf")
 }
 
 package object duration {
   implicit def intToDurationInt(n: Int) = new DurationInt(n)
   implicit def longToDurationLong(n: Long) = new DurationLong(n)
+  implicit def pairIntToDuration(p : (Int, TimeUnit)) = Duration(p._1, p._2)
+  implicit def pairLongToDuration(p : (Long, TimeUnit)) = Duration(p._1, p._2)
+  implicit def durationToPair(d : Duration) = (d.length, d.unit)
+
+  implicit def intMult(i : Int) = new {
+    def *(d : Duration) = d * i
+  }
+  implicit def longMult(l : Long) = new {
+    def *(d : Duration) = d * l
+  }
 }
 
 class DurationInt(n: Int) {