  Compact binary coalescences, such as binary neutron stars or black holes, are
among the most promising candidate sources for the current and future
terrestrial gravitational-wave detectors. While such sources are best searched
using matched template techniques and chirp template banks, integrating chirp
signals from binaries over the entire Universe also leads to a
gravitational-wave background (GWB). In this paper we systematically scan the
parameter space for the binary coalescence GWB models, taking into account
uncertainties in the star formation rate and in the delay time between the
formation and coalescence of the binary, and we compare the computed GWB to the
sensitivities of the second and third generation gravitational-wave detector
networks. We find that second generation detectors are likely to detect the
binary coalescence GWB, while the third generation detectors will probe most of
the available parameter space. The binary coalescence GWB will, in fact, be a
foreground for the third-generation detectors, potentially masking the GWB
background due to cosmological sources. Accessing the cosmological GWB with
third generation detectors will therefore require identification and
subtraction of all inspiral signals from all binaries in the detectors'
frequency band.
