At the same time, {HEAD ~ the exponent portions} of the first operand and the second operand are compared by {TAIL ~ exponent processing circuitry} 18 
are compared by
At the same time , { HEAD ~ the exponent portions } of the first operand and the second operand are compared by { TAIL ~ exponent processing circuitry } 18
OTH OTH OTH OTH OTH HEAD HEAD HEAD HEAD HEAD HEAD HEAD OTH OTH OTH OTH OTH OTH OTH OTH REL REL REL TAIL TAIL TAIL TAIL TAIL TAIL TAIL OTH