An innovative concept for decentralized processing of the signals of multiple sensors is presented. The basic idea is to connect every sensor via an analog‐to‐digital converter with a high‐performance microprocessor, a transputer, that exclusively collects and processes its signal. The transputers are linked to a powerful network. Exemplarily, a measuring system based on this concept was used for the determination of local parameters of liquid–gas two‐phase flows (e.g., local void fraction and bubble frequency). Up to six fiber‐optical probes were utilized simultaneously to demonstrate the efficiency of the system. The signal processing under that special application may include on‐line evaluation of flow parameters and on‐line correction of errors of measurement due to sensor‐induced effects. The concept of the new system, however, is basically independent of the number and type of sensors, as well as of the method of signal processing. The transputer‐based measuring system thus provides a flexible, efficient tool for applications in which great amounts of data have to be evaluated or manipulated quickly. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.