Ercan, Ali Özer2015-10-232015-10-232016-031863-1711http://hdl.handle.net/10679/954https://doi.org/10.1007/s11760-015-0782-4Due to copyright restrictions, the access to the full text of this article is only available via subscription.This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the spectrum utilization levels in a cognitive radio system. We assume that the traffic of the primary network is bursty and asynchronous with the secondary network, which performs imperfect spectrum sensing. Collisions of the primary and the secondary packets are assumed to result in increased packet error probabilities. We present primary and secondary utilization levels under optimized secondary transmission periods for varying primary traffic characteristics and secondary sensing performance levels. The results are also validated by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. We find that an asynchronous cognitive radio network with imperfect spectrum sensing is feasible when optimized transmission periods are used. The effects of primary traffic’s burst pattern and secondary sensing performance are discussed.engopenAccessarticle1031800037072280002310.1007/s11760-015-0782-4Cognitive radioAsynchronous opportunistic spectrum accessChannel utilization2-s2.0-84958116908