An integrated circuit device has a processor, a software-trace message handling system, a software-trace message sink peripheral, and a hardware interconnect system. The interconnect system is capable of directing software-trace messages from the processor to the software-trace message handling system, and of directing software-trace messages from the processor to the software-trace message sink peripheral. The software-trace message sink peripheral can present an interconnect delay to the processor, when receiving a software-trace message from the processor, that is equal to or substantially equal to an interconnect delay that the software-trace message handling system would have presented to the processor if the software-trace message handling system were to have received the software-trace message.