Patent ID: 8001428

Claim:
Apparatus for processing data comprising a trace data receiver for receiving a source trace data stream corresponding to a source trace protocol, said source trace data stream comprising a plurality of packets of trace data, each of said plurality of packets comprising at least one source data element, said source data element having a bit-length corresponding to a highest common factor of bit-lengths of all possible packets of said source trace protocol; packing circuitry arranged to receive said source data elements from said trace data receiver and to apply a packing protocol to said source data elements to pack data of said source data elements into a packed trace data stream for supply to trace accepting circuitry in a format comprising acceptance data elements, said acceptance data elements having a bit-length that is not a factor of said source data element bit-length; wherein said packed trace data stream comprises one or more of said acceptance data elements wherein said packing circuitry is arranged to pack a first positive integer number of said source data elements into a respective data chunk comprising a second positive integer number of said acceptance data elements, said packing being such that said second positive integer number is different from said first positive integer number and wherein said packing circuitry is arranged to perform said packing such that said source data elements are recoverable from said packed trace data stream by trace data analysing circuitry.