The problem of optimal channel sensing in heterogeneous cognitive networks is considered to maximize the system throughput performance. The characteristics of an optimal operating sensing point maximizing the overall system rate are investigated under several rate criteria including the sum rate, the minimum of the primary and secondary rates, and the secondary rate with a guaranteed primary rate. Under the sum rate criterion, it is shown that the loss by imperfect sensing is no greater than half of the sum rate achieved by the perfect time sharing approach in a two user case if the sensing point is optimally designed.