Patent ID: 8041402

Claim:
A data processing system in a mobile device for managing ring tones, the data processing system comprising: a bus; a memory, connected to the bus, wherein the memory containing computer executable instructions; a processor connected to the bus, wherein the processor executes the computer executable instructions directing the data processing system to: detect a radio frequency transmission on a first mobile device from a second mobile device; responsive to detecting the radio frequency transmission from the second mobile device, transmit a current ring identifier for a current ring tone of the first mobile device to the second mobile device and receive a ring identifier transmitted from the second mobile device; identify a ring tone used by the second mobile device to form an identified ring tone; responsive to the identified ring tone, comparing the ring identifier of the second mobile device with the current ring identifier for the current ring tone of the first mobile device to determine whether the current ring tone is a same ring tone as the ring tone used by the second mobile device; and responsive to the current ring tone of the first mobile device being the same ring tone as the ring tone used by the second mobile device, selectively changing the current ring tone for the first mobile device to an alternate ring tone.