A method for decoding an analog waveform corresponding to a symbol comprises detecting the extrema locations of the waveform, and creating a feature vector from these extrema locations. The feature vector is compared to stored reference arrays corresponding to each symbol from an alphabet of possible symbols using statistical pattern recognition techniques to decode the waveform. The invention also features an analog waveform decoder that has reference storage for holding reference arrays, and a processor that creates and decodes a feature vector for the analog waveform.