1. A pattern matching system, comprising a memory and one or more processors, the memory having instructions encoded thereon such that upon execution of the instructions, the processor performs operations of: receiving as an input a data stream in a neural network, the data stream having a string of characters, the data stream received in the neural network such that at each time t, only a single character is received, with each single character assigned to a neuron in the neural network; activating the neuron assigned to the single character such that when active, the neuron fires to all connecting output neurons to form a neuron spike, each neuron spike from the assigned neuron to a connecting output neuron having a delay, where each output neuron that receives a neuron spike sums its receiving neuron spikes to form an activation value; and comparing the activation value against a number of connections for a stored pattern to generate a similarity match, such that if the similarity match exceeds a predetermined threshold, the string of characters in the input data stream is identified as the stored pattern.