Parallelized multiple dispatch system and method for ordered queue arbitration

A microprocessor, comprising:

• a register alias table that issues instructions in program order to a parallelized multiple dispatch ordered queue;
• wherein said parallelized multiple dispatch ordered queue comprises:
• an ordered queue that is configured to store said instructions in program order received from said register alias table from oldest to youngest into a plurality of entries, wherein said ordered queue is divided into N groups in which an i'th group includes every i'th entry of every N entries of the ordered queue, wherein i is an integer less than or equal to N;
• qualify logic that determines whether any of said stored instructions in said ordered queue is ready to be dispatched from said ordered queue for execution;
• ordered select logic that respectively determines an oldest instruction in each group of said ordered queue that is ready to be dispatched;
• dispatch logic that dispatches instructions from said N groups in parallel, wherein said dispatch logic dispatches said oldest instruction in each group that is ready to be dispatched leaving a vacant entry in said ordered queue;
• and
• shift logic that shifts said instructions stored in said ordered queue to fill said vacant entry between remaining ones of said stored instructions without changing program order of said remaining ones of stored instructions in said ordered queue;
• and
• N execution units of the same type, each configured to execute said instructions stored in said ordered queue.

A method of dispatching multiple candidates from an ordered queue in parallel, comprising:

• storing candidates in order into an ordered queue from oldest to youngest, in which the ordered queue is divided into N groups in which an i'th group includes every i'th entry of every N entries of the ordered queue, wherein i is an integer less than or equal to N;
• determining whether any of the stored candidates in the ordered queue is ready to be dispatched from the ordered queue;
• determining an oldest candidate respectively in each group of the ordered queue that is ready to be dispatched;
• dispatching candidates from the N groups in parallel including said oldest candidate in each group that is ready to be dispatched and leaving at least one vacant entry in the ordered queue;
• and
• shifting the stored candidates in the ordered queue to fill the vacant entry between remaining ones of the stored candidates without changing an order of the remaining ones of the stored candidates in the ordered queue.