Method and apparatus for tracing hardware states using dynamically reconfigurable test circuits

A system for controlling an electronic device, said system comprising:

• a field programmable logic circuit in which functional logic and a plurality of dynamically reconfigurable test circuits are implemented, wherein said plurality of dynamically reconfigurable test circuits includes a register set;
• a processor for executing program instructions to control said electronic device and for instantiating said plurality of dynamically reconfigurable test circuits by loading a selected of a plurality of configuration images into said field programmable logic circuit;
• a storage for storing said plurality of configuration images for configuring said field programmable logic circuit and for storing a test program, said test program including:
• instructions for tracing execution of program code to create a software trace history;
• instructions for periodically reading a set of registers within said plurality of test circuits to create a hardware log in response to the receipt of a hardware trace request;
• and
• instructions for recording the contents of said registers in synchronization with said software trace history to produce a full trace history;
• an interconnect coupling said field programmable logic circuit, said processor, and said storage.