System and mobile phone for determining using state of other mobile phones

A mobile phone for determining a using state of each of a plurality of other mobile phones;

• wherein the mobile phone is configured for communicating with a mobile switching center (MSC) and with the other mobile phones via a base station (BS);
• and the mobile phone comprises:
• a storage unit configured for storing an address list including information on contacts, wherein each item of contact information includes a contact identification (ID) and a current using state of a respective one of the mobile phones;
• a first communicating unit configured for communicating with any selected one of the other mobile phones via the BS by way of telephone call;
• a power switch connected to the storage unit and the first communicating unit, and configured for being turned on and off alternatively in response to a user's operation, to continue and discontinue a power supply connected to the power switch and used to power the storage unit and the first communicating unit;
• a using state determining unit configured for determining the using state of the mobile phone by monitoring the first communicating unit and the power switch;
• a second communicating unit configured for communicating with the MSC via the BS;
• and a control unit configured for:
• obtaining the using state of the mobile phone determined by the using state determining unit and controlling the second communicating unit to transmit the contact ID and the obtained using state of the mobile phone to the MSC via the BS;
• and controlling the second communicating unit to transmit the contact IDs of the other mobile phones in the address list to the MSC via the BS to obtain the using states of the other mobile phones corresponding to the contact IDs from the MSC;
• wherein the using state determining unit is further configured for updating the using states of the contact IDs of the other mobile phones in the address list with the using states obtained from the MSC by the control unit;
• wherein the control unit controls the second communicating unit to transmit the contact ID and the using state of the mobile phone to the MSC when a current using state determined by the using state determining unit is different from a previous using state determined by the using state determining unit last time.

A mobile phone for determining a using state of each of a plurality of other mobile phones;

• wherein the mobile phone is configured for communicating with a mobile switching center (MSC) and with the other mobile phones via a base station (BS);
• and the mobile phone comprises:
• an address list including a contact identification ID and a current using state of each of the mobile phones;
• a first communicating unit configured for communicating with any selected one of the other mobile phones via the BS by way of telephone call;
• a power switch connected to the first communicating unit, and configured for being turned on and off alternatively in response to a user's operation, to continue and discontinue a power supply connected to the power switch and used to power the first communicating unit;
• a using state determining unit configured for determining the using state of the mobile phone by monitoring the first communicating unit and the power switch;
• a second communicating unit configured for communicating with the MSC via the BS;
• and a control unit configured for:
• obtaining the using state of the mobile phone determined by the using state determining unit and controlling the second communicating unit to transmit a contact identification (ID) and the obtained using state of the mobile phone to the MSC via the BS;
• and controlling the second communicating unit to transmit the contact IDs of the other mobile phones in the address list to the MSC via the BS to obtain the using states of the other mobile phones corresponding to the contact IDs from the MSC;
• wherein the using state determining unit is further configured for updating the using states of the contact IDs of the other mobile phones in the address list with the using states obtained from the MSC by the control unit;
• wherein the control unit controls the second communicating unit to transmit the contact ID and the using state of the mobile phone to the MSC when a current using state determined by the using state determining unit is different from a previous using state determined by the using state determining unit last time.