Patent ID: 7991395

Claim:
An apparatus for scanning a frequency in a mobile terminal, comprising: a frequency scanner that detects an available frequency in such a manner that when a frequency-scanning event is generated, a Last-used frequency Band (LB), in which a last frequency used is included, is first scanned, and thereafter the LB is periodically re-scanned while the entire frequency bands are scanned, wherein the frequency scanner checks the LB when the frequency-scanning event is generated, and the available frequency is searched from the LB, wherein, if no available frequency is detected from the LB, sequentially selecting other frequency bands, and an available frequency is searched from the selected frequency bands, wherein, if no available frequency is detected from the selected frequency bands, determining whether a predetermined period of time for re-scanning the LB has elapsed, and wherein, if the predetermined period of time for re-scanning the LB has elapsed, returning to searching the available frequency from the LB and repeating the following steps until an available frequency is detected.