In this paper, we investigate the joint cooperative spectrum sensing and
access design problem for multi-channel cognitive radio networks. A general
heterogeneous setting is considered where the probabilities that different
channels are available, SNRs of the signals received at secondary users (SUs)
due to transmissions from primary users (PUs) for different users and channels
can be different. We assume a cooperative sensing strategy with a general
a-out-of-b aggregation rule and design a synchronized MAC protocol so that SUs
can exploit available channels. We analyze the sensing performance and the
throughput achieved by the joint sensing and access design. Based on this
analysis, we develop algorithms to find optimal parameters for the sensing and
access protocols and to determine channel assignment for SUs to maximize the
system throughput. Finally, numerical results are presented to verify the
effectiveness of our design and demonstrate the relative performance of our
proposed algorithms and the optimal ones.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1404.167