Abstract
We study the asymptotic performance of two multihop overlaid ad-hoc networks that utilize the same temporal, spectral, and spatial resources based on random access schemes. The primary network consists of Poisson distributed legacy users with density lambda((p)) and the secondary network consists of Poisson distributed cognitive radio users with density lambda((s)) = (lambda((p)))(beta) (beta > 0, beta not equal 1) that utilize the spectrum opportunistically. Both networks are decentralized and employ ALOHA medium access protocols where the secondary nodes are additionally equipped with range-limited perfect spectrum sensors to monitor and protect primary transmissions. We study the problem in two distinct regimes, namely beta > 1 and 0 < beta < 1. We show that in both cases, the two networks can achieve their corresponding stand-alone throughput scaling even without secondary spectrum sensing (i.e., the sensing range set to zero); this implies the need for a more comprehensive performance metric than just throughput scaling to evaluate the influence of the overlaid interactions. We thus introduce a new criterion, termed the asymptotic multiplexing gain, which captures the effect of inter-network interferences with different spectrum sensing setups. With this metric, we clearly demonstrate that spectrum sensing can substantially improve the overlaid cognitive network performances when beta > 1. On the contrary, spectrum sensing turns out to be unnecessary when beta < 1 and employing spectrum sensors cannot improve the network performances.