39. The apparatus of claim 38 , wherein said means for weighting said signs of differences further comprises: means for representing said signs of differences as 2's-complement binary expressions in registers; and means for shifting bits in at least some of said registers.
38. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein said means for determining said relationship further comprises: means for determining signs of differences between corresponding portions of said first and second binary strings; means for weighting said signs of differences based, at least in part, on a significance of said corresponding portions of said first and second binary strings; and means for determining said relationship based, at least in part, on a sum of the weighted signs of differences.