22. The method defined in claim 21 wherein said combining step includes logically OR'ing said binary words together on a bit-by-bit basis.
22. The method defined in claim 21 wherein said combining step includes logically OR'ing said binary words together on a bit-by-bit basis. 23. The method defined in claim 22 wherein said mapping step includes converting an input word having a variable length to an output word having a predetermined length via a hashing process.