Hey everyone...thanks a lot for your input.
Some changes to the idea :
-> A remote holder is attached to the TV.
-> There is a small IR receiver device(in the remote holder) which can be detached and used to search for the remote. let's call that device 'rat' (won't call it mouse ;-)
-> The remote must use the same IR transmitter to communicate to the tv and 'rat', thereby reducing the need to put two transmitters.
-> The signal sent to 'rat' can be periodic to save energy from continuous transmission.
-> When looking for your remote, simply take the rat out of your holder and find it using LEDs on the device.
-> There is only one transmitter (which is in the remote) and only one receiver (which is in the 'rat', not counting tv's receiver here)
now there are some serious pitfalls and challenges to this approach :
1) IR is directional
Using RF would only add to the cost, complexity of the device although would attain much better results. The idea here is to use the same Transmitter. IR cannot help if your remote is under the mattress, basically anything thicker than IR penetrating range.
so why should i use IR ?
Well, the goal here is small - find the remote. One can buy various kinds of detectors, finders in the market but the essence to have an integrated product which can be tracked (even if you have to work a little harder)
2) What if the 'rat' also goes missing ?
(or as marcbarker said :
what if you lose the beepy-beep beeper? )
This is more 'lose-prone' owing to its smaller size. I am still thinking about how to tackle this one. Any suggestions ?
Once again, thank you for your time and comments.
PS : I am doing this as a small project in undergrad course so there are a lot of constraints.