Patent ID: 7093236

Claim:
Apparatus for processing data, said apparatus comprising: (i) a processing circuit operable to process data values under control of processing instructions; (ii) a memory operable to store data values to be processed, said processing circuit being responsive to a data access instruction to access a data value stored within said memory; and (iii) a tracing circuit operable to generate a stream of trace data identifying processing instructions executed and data values accessed by said processing circuit; wherein (iv) a data access instruction may result in a data miss such that a data value corresponding to said data access instruction is accessed upon a processing cycle subsequent to that upon which said access would occur without said data miss; and (v) said tracing circuit is responsive to said data miss to generate a data place holder within said stream of trace data at a position where data identifying said data value would have been placed if said data miss had not occurred and then, when said access to said data value does occur, to insert at a later point in said stream of trace data a late data value identifying said data value.