Mechanisms for handling data cache misses out-of-order for asynchronous
pipelines are provided. The mechanisms associate load tag (LTAG)
identifiers with the load instructions and uses them to track the load
instruction across multiple pipelines as an index into a load table data
structure of a load target buffer. The load table is used to manage cache
"hits" and "misses" and to aid in the recycling of data from the L2
cache. With cache misses, the LTAG indexed load table permits load data
to recycle from the L2 cache in any order. When the load instruction
issues and sees its corresponding entry in the load table marked as a
"miss," the effects of issuance of the load instruction are canceled and
the load instruction is stored in the load table for future reissuing to
the instruction pipeline when the required data is recycled.