23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein said first character expression represents a first quantity and said second character expression represents a second quantity, and wherein said means for determining said relationship between said first and second character expressions further comprises means for determining a quantitative relationship between said first and second quantities.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein said means for determining a relationship between said first and second quantities further comprises means for determining whether said first quantity is greater than said second quantity based, at least in part, on said first and second binary strings.