Systems and methods for locating discarded tracking devices

1. A method for recovering a discarded tracking device, the method comprising:

receiving, by a target monitor device, a message including a defined wake-up time;

storing, by the target monitor device, the defined wake-up time;

entering, by the target monitor device, a low level power mode, wherein in the low level power mode the target monitor device maintains a timer; and

upon the timer indicating the defined wake-up time has arrived, causing an alert circuit to generate an alert signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert circuit includes a speaker, and wherein the alert signal is an audio signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert circuit includes a light, and wherein the alert signal is a visual signal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert circuit includes both a speaker and a light, and wherein the alert signal includes both a visual signal and an audio signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

periodically transitioning, by the target monitor device, from the low level power mode to an additional power mode; and

while in the additional power mode, receiving, by the target monitor device, messages from a central monitoring system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the messages from the central monitoring system include the message including a defined wake-up time.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein a period at which the target monitor device transitions from the low level power mode to the additional power mode is selected from a group consisting of: twenty-four hours, and four hours.

8. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

receiving, by a processing resource, a request for target monitor device recovery at a central monitoring station, wherein the request for target monitor device recovery includes the defined wake-up time; and

sending, by the processing resource, the message including the defined wake-up time to the target monitor device.

9. A system for recovering a discarded tracking device, the system comprising:

a target monitor device including:

a processing resource;

an alert circuit; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the processing resource, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium has stored thereon instructions that when executed by the processing resource cause the processing resource to:

receive a message including a defined wake-up time;

store the defined wake-up time;

enter a low level power mode, wherein in the low level power mode the target monitor device maintains a timer; and

upon the timer indicating the defined wake-up time has arrived, causing the alert circuit to generate an alert signal.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the alert circuit includes a speaker, and wherein the alert signal is an audio signal.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the alert circuit includes a light, and wherein the alert signal is a visual signal.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the alert circuit includes both a speaker and a light, and wherein the alert signal includes both a visual signal and an audio signal.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the system further includes a central monitoring system, and wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions that when executed by the processing resource cause the processing resource to:

periodically transition from the low level power mode to an additional power mode; and

while in the additional power mode, receive messages from the central monitoring system.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the messages from the central monitoring system include the message including a defined wake-up time.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein a period at which the target monitor device transitions from the low level power mode to the additional power mode is selected from a group consisting of: twenty-four hours, and four hours.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions that when executed by the processing resource cause the processing resource to:

receive a request for target monitor device recovery at a central monitoring station, wherein the request for target monitor device recovery includes the defined wake-up time; and

send the message including the defined wake-up time to the target monitor device.

17. A system for recovering a discarded tracking device, the system comprising:

a central monitoring system, the central control system including:

a first processing resource; and

a first non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the first processing resource, wherein the first non-transitory computer readable medium has stored thereon instructions that when executed by the first processing resource cause the first processing resource to:

receive a request for target monitor device recovery, wherein the request for target monitor device recovery includes a defined wake-up time; and

send a message including the defined wake-up time to a target monitor device;

the target monitor device, the target monitor device including:

a second processing resource;

an alert circuit; and

a second non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the second processing resource, wherein the second non-transitory computer readable medium has stored thereon instructions that when executed by the second processing resource cause the second processing resource to:

receive the message including the defined wake-up time;

store the defined wake-up time;

enter a low level power mode, wherein in the low level power mode the target monitor device maintains a timer;

upon the timer indicating the defined wake-up time has arrived, transition to an additional power mode that includes causing the alert circuit to generate an alert signal.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the alert circuit includes both a speaker and a light, and wherein the alert signal includes both a visual signal and an audio signal.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first non-transitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions that when executed by the first processing resource cause the first processing resource to:

repeatedly send the message including the defined wake-up time to the target monitor device until a confirmation of receipt is received from the target monitor device.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first non-transitory computer readable medium further has stored thereon instructions that when executed by the first processing resource cause the first processing resource to:

repeatedly send the message including the defined wake-up time to the target monitor device until either: (a) a confirmation of receipt is received from the target monitor device, or (b) a time derived from the defined wake-up time has passed.