A distributive photonic monobit analog-to-digital converter (300, 400), comprising: a plurality of signal processing chains configured to receive a corresponding plurality of analog input electrical signals, wherein each processing chain of the plurality of processing chains comprises: an incoherent optical source (360, 460) configured to generate an optical noise signal (363, 463), the optical noise signal comprising random signal phases that are uniformly distributed over a range of the optical noise signal, from sample to sample, with low correlation existing between any two instants; an optical modulator (364, 464) configured to modulate an analog input electrical signal (302, 402) of the plurality of analog input electrical signals onto an input optical signal (367, 467) to generate an optical modulated signal (365, 465); a coupler (368, 468) configured to couple the optical modulated signal with the optical noise signal to generate a coupled signal (320, 420); a photodetector (310, 410) configured to generate a phase difference (322, 422) between the optical modulated signal and the optical noise signal using the coupled signal; and a limiter (312, 412) configured to output a decision signal (324, 424) based on the phase difference and using a clock signal (326, 426), wherein the limiter is a threshold device, with the clock signal triggering when the comparison occurs; a multi-phase clock generator (314. 414) configured to generate the clock signal for each of the plurality of signal processing chains; and a digital signal processing 'DSP' circuit (316, 416) configured to generate a digital signal (350, 450) representative of the plurality of analog input electrical signal based on the decision signal from each of the plurality of signal processing chains. a plurality of signal processing chains configured to receive a corresponding plurality of analog input electrical signals, wherein each processing chain of the plurality of processing chains comprises: an incoherent optical source (360, 460) configured to generate an optical noise signal (363, 463), the optical noise signal comprising random signal phases that are uniformly distributed over a range of the optical noise signal, from sample to sample, with low correlation existing between any two instants; an optical modulator (364, 464) configured to modulate an analog input electrical signal (302, 402) of the plurality of analog input electrical signals onto an input optical signal (367, 467) to generate an optical modulated signal (365, 465); a coupler (368, 468) configured to couple the optical modulated signal with the optical noise signal to generate a coupled signal (320, 420); a photodetector (310, 410) configured to generate a phase difference (322, 422) between the optical modulated signal and the optical noise signal using the coupled signal; and a limiter (312, 412) configured to output a decision signal (324, 424) based on the phase difference and using a clock signal (326, 426), wherein the limiter is a threshold device, with the clock signal triggering when the comparison occurs; an incoherent optical source (360, 460) configured to generate an optical noise signal (363, 463), the optical noise signal comprising random signal phases that are uniformly distributed over a range of the optical noise signal, from sample to sample, with low correlation existing between any two instants; an optical modulator (364, 464) configured to modulate an analog input electrical signal (302, 402) of the plurality of analog input electrical signals onto an input optical signal (367, 467) to generate an optical modulated signal (365, 465); a coupler (368, 468) configured to couple the optical modulated signal with the optical noise signal to generate a coupled signal (320, 420); a photodetector (310, 410) configured to generate a phase difference (322, 422) between the optical modulated signal and the optical noise signal using the coupled signal; and a limiter (312, 412) configured to output a decision signal (324, 424) based on the phase difference and using a clock signal (326, 426), wherein the limiter is a threshold device, with the clock signal triggering when the comparison occurs; a multi-phase clock generator (314. 414) configured to generate the clock signal for each of the plurality of signal processing chains; and a digital signal processing 'DSP' circuit (316, 416) configured to generate a digital signal (350, 450) representative of the plurality of analog input electrical signal based on the decision signal from each of the plurality of signal processing chains.