System and Method for Issuing Load-Dependent Instructions in an Issue Queue in a Processing Unit of a Data Processing System

A system for issuing load-dependent instructions from an issue queue in a processing unit in a data processing system, said system comprising:

• at least one processing unit;
• an interconnect coupled to said at least one processing unit;
• and
• a computer usable medium embodying computer program code, said computer usable medium being coupled to said interconnect, said computer program code comprising instructions executable by said at least one processing unit and configured for:
• providing a load miss queue comprising a physical address field that indicates where load instruction data is stored for said load miss queue, an issue queue position field that indicates an issue queue position of a load-dependent instruction, a valid identifier field that indicates if said load-dependent instruction is valid, a source identifier field that indicates a source of said load-dependent instruction that is dependent on a load instruction, and a data type field that indicates a type of said load instruction data;
• dispatching said load instruction that misses a first level cache;
• in response to dispatching said load instruction, setting both of said physical address field and said data type field;
• identifying said load-dependent instruction, wherein said load-dependent instruction comprises one or more from the group consisting of:
• an instruction present in one of a plurality of issue queues;
• and an instruction dispatched from one of a plurality of latches;
• in response to indentifying said load-dependent instruction, setting each of said issue queue position field, said valid identifier field, and said source identifier field;
• determining if said issue queue position field refers to a flushed instruction;
• in response to determining said issue queue position field refers to a flushed instruction, clearing said valid identifier field;
• recycling said load instruction,
• in response to recycling said load instruction, determining a value of said valid identifier field;
• and
• in response to determining said value of said valid identifier field, selecting said load-dependent instruction for issue on a next processing cycle independent of an age of said load-dependent instruction.