Weighted Distance-Based Quantization for Distributed Estimation

We consider quantization optimized for distributed estimation, where a set of sensors at different sites collect measurements on the parameter of interest, quantize them, and transmit the quantized data to a fusion node, which then estimates the parameter. Here, we propose an iterative quantizer design algorithm with a weighted distance rule that allows us to reduce a system-wide metric such as the estimation error by constructing quantization partitions with their optimal weights. We show that the search for the weights, the most expensive computational step in the algorithm, can be conducted in a sequential manner without deviating from convergence, leading to a significant reduction in design complexity. Our experments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves improved performance over traditional quantizer designs. The benefit of the proposed technique is further illustrated by the experiments providing similar estimation performance with much lower complexity as compared to the recently published novel algorithms.