  Analog signals processed in digital hardware are quantized into a discrete
bit-constrained representation. Quantization is typically carried out using
analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), operating in a serial scalar manner. In
some applications, a set of analog signals are acquired individually and
processed jointly. Such setups are referred to as distributed quantization. In
this work, we propose a distributed quantization scheme for representing a set
of sparse time sequences acquired using conventional scalar ADCs. Our approach
utilizes tools from secure group testing theory to exploit the sparse nature of
the acquired analog signals, obtaining a compact and accurate representation
while operating in a distributed fashion. We then show how our technique can be
implemented when the quantized signals are transmitted over a multi-hop
communication network providing a low-complexity network policy for routing and
signal recovery. Our numerical evaluations demonstrate that the proposed scheme
notably outperforms conventional methods based on the combination of
quantization and compressed sensing tools.
