Patent ID: 8909994

Claim:
A method for tracing execution of an instruction by a processor, the method comprising: dispatching, by an instruction sequencing unit of the processor, instructions for execution; executing, by one or more execution units of the processor, instructions dispatched by the instruction sequencing unit, wherein the executing includes the one or more execution units executing a first instruction in a multiphase operation including a sequential series of phases and executing a second instruction in a uniphase operation having a single phase; during instruction execution by the one or more execution units, receiving, by a trace module, a plurality of internal signals of the processor associated with the instruction execution, wherein the plurality of internal signals includes a phase signal that, for an instruction executed in a multiphase operation, indicates a current phase of the multiphase operation; and in response to an indication that execution of the first instruction is a multiphase operation, the trace module: during a first phase of execution of the first instruction, dynamically selecting and outputting as a trace signal a first signal of the plurality of internal signals based at least in part on the phase signal; and thereafter, during a second phase of execution of the first instruction, dynamically selecting and outputting as the trace signal a different second signal of the plurality of internal signals based at least in part on the phase signal.