1. A processor, comprising: an instruction execution pipeline having a functional unit to execute an instruction that compares vector elements against an input value, each of the vector elements and the input value having a first respective section identifying a location within data and a second respective section having a byte sequence of the data, the functional unit having: comparison circuitry to compare respective byte sequences of the input vector elements against the input value's byte sequence to identify a number of matching bytes for each comparison; and, difference circuitry to determine respective distances between said input vector's elements' byte sequences and said input value's byte sequence within said data.