Final answer:
It is indeed possible for a communications interrupt to occur while a printer interrupt is being processed due to the concept of interrupt nesting or interrupt priority, which allows more critical tasks to be serviced first.
Step-by-step explanation:
Yes, it is possible for a communications interrupt to occur while a printer interrupt is being processed. This is because modern computing systems utilize a concept known as interrupt nesting or interrupt priority, where an interrupt with a higher priority can preempt the processing of a current interrupt with a lower priority.
In systems with interrupt controllers, multiple interrupts can be managed and processed accordingly. However, the actual implementation of this functionality can differ based on the hardware and the operating system's interrupt handling mechanisms.
Essentially, if the communications interrupt has a higher priority than the printer interrupt, the processor can temporarily halt the handling of the printer interrupt, service the communications interrupt, and then resume the printer interrupt once the higher priority task is completed.