TRAILER REARVIEW CAMERA SYSTEM

Abstract

A reversing camera system includes a housing configured to be mounted on the rear of a trailer at a location of a center marker light of the trailer and having a rear surface offset and turned outward from the trailer, a camera in the housing and configured to capture a rear view of the trailer, a first light in the center of the rear surface of the housing, a second light on the rear surface of the housing and offset from the first light, and a controller inside the housing and configured to selectively couple the first light or the second light to a wiring harness from the center marker light of the trailer.

Description

TRAILER REARVIEW CAMERA SYSTEM Field of Invention The aspects of the present invention relate to a reversing camera system for vehicles and a method for using the same. Background of the Invention With recent advances in electronics, the number of advanced safety features included in vehicles has increased. One such safety feature is the reversing camera system, which provides the driver with a clear rear view of other vehicles or objects behind the vehicle. This system is of particular interest in the heavy transport sector, as the large size of the trailer often prevents the driver from seeing the rear of the vehicle using a rearview or side mirror. Conventional reversing camera solutions typically involve mounting one or more rearview cameras on the back of the trailer, giving the driver a comprehensive view from the rear of the trailer to the entire surrounding area. Current semi-trailer reversing cameras of the related technology have 25 incorporated dedicated receivers mounted on the side of the Ref. 341964 The tractor unit receives the signal from the trailer-mounted reversing camera. However, these dedicated receivers limit which tractor can view the image(s) from which trailer reversing camera and / or (in the case of the wireless versions) require a complicated connection process to confirm that the trailer being towed is indeed the image displayed on the towing vehicle's receiver. Alternatively, some camera manufacturers have devised wired means to connect the trailer camera to the towing vehicle's receiver. However, this requires both the towing vehicle and the trailer to have docking connectors, which complicates installation. Typically, most tractors pull trailers that are not necessarily owned or maintained by the same entities / companies. For example, tractor owners are usually hired by trailer owners to drive the trailer to a specific location. The tractor owner is responsible for tractor maintenance, and the trailer owner is responsible for trailer maintenance. There is usually little coordination between the trailer owner and the tractor owner. Since semi-trailer backup cameras generally require coordination between these two entities via a wireless or wired interface, neither has achieved significant success. The information described in this background section above is only to enhance understanding of the background of the invention and, therefore, may contain information that is not part of the prior art already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Summary of the Invention The embodiments of the invention are directed to the trailer reversing camera system, which has a camera-receiver connection mechanism that can substantially reduce the need for coordination between the trailer owner and the owner of a trailer. The camera system can be mounted in place of the center marker light on the upper rear of a trailer and can be powered by the existing center marker light wiring on the trailer and an internal rechargeable battery.The reversing camera system can transmit a video signal to a connected mobile device (e.g., a driver's smartphone or tablet) or to a connected device (e.g., an electronic recording device (ELD)) inside the cab of a tractor that has been fitted with custom software using a provided SDK, developed to communicate with the camera system. According to some embodiments of the present invention, a reversing camera system is provided comprising: a housing configured to be mounted on the rear of a trailer at a location of a center marker light of the trailer and having a rear surface offset from and turned outward from the trailer; a camera in the housing and configured to capture a rear view of the trailer; a first light in the center of the rear surface of the housing; a second light on the rear surface of the housing and offset from the first light; and a controller within the housing and configured to selectively couple the first light or the second light to a wiring harness of the center marker light of the trailer. In some configurations, the housing is configured to be mounted under a rim on the upper rear of the trailer. In some models, the reversing camera system also includes: a switch configured to selectively couple the first light or the second light to the wiring of the trailer's center marker light based on a control signal from the controller. In some models, the reversing camera system also includes: an accelerometer configured to detect trailer movement; and a gyroscope configured to detect a trailer movement direction. In some modes, the controller is also configured to activate the camera in response to the gyroscope detecting the trailer's reverse movement. In some modalities, the reversing camera system also includes: a communication circuit configured to transmit the availability of the reversing camera system in a mesh network to other devices 10 in the mesh network in response to an activation signal, where the controller is further configured to generate the activation signal in response to at least one of: receiving electrical power through the trailer center marker light wiring; detecting trailer movement by 15 the accelerometer; or detecting trailer movement by the gyroscope. In some configurations, the communication circuit includes: a wifi transceiver configured to establish a wireless mesh network and allow video transmission from the camera to an external device that is on the mesh network; and a bluetooth transceiver configured to communicate an operating status of the reversing camera system to at least one of the external devices or a trailer telematics gateway. In some configurations, the communication circuit is configured to communicate with a trailer telematics gateway via the Power Line Carrier (PLC) protocol. In some models, the 5-way reversing camera system also includes: a battery storage within the housing and configured to provide electrical power to the controller, gyroscope, and accelerometer in the absence of electrical power in the trailer center marker light wiring, wherein the controller is configured to charge the battery storage in response to the presence of power in the trailer center marker light wiring. In some modes, the controller is configured to place the backup camera system into hibernation mode in response to one or more of the following: a lack of power in the trailer center marker light wiring; lack of motion detection by at least one of the accelerometers or gyroscopes; and lack of wireless connection with any other external device for a period of time. According to some embodiments of the present invention, a reversing camera system network is provided comprising: a plurality of reversing camera systems configured to form a mesh network accessible by the same access credentials, each reversing camera system of the plurality of reversing camera systems comprising: a housing configured to be mounted on the rear of a trailer; a camera in the housing and configured to capture images of a rear view of the trailer; a communication circuit configured to grant access to an external device to the mesh network via the access credentials, and to transmit the images to the external device; and a controller configured to control the operations of the camera and the communication circuit. In some models, the controller is configured to detect trailer movement via an accelerometer or gyroscope, and the controller is further configured to detect the presence of electrical power in a central marker light wiring on the trailer. In some modes, the controller is further configured to generate an activation signal in response to at least one of the detection of trailer movement or the detection of the presence of electrical power in the wiring of the center marker light, and the communication circuit is further configured to transmit the availability of the reversing camera system in the mesh network to other devices in the mesh network in response to the activation signal. In some models, the housing is mounted in a location of a central marker light on the trailer. In some configurations, the reversing camera system network also includes: a first light in the center of a rear surface of the housing; and a second light on the rear surface of the housing and offset from the first light, wherein the controller is configured to selectively couple the first light or the second light to a wiring harness of a central trailer marker light. In some configurations, the reversing camera system also includes: a battery storage within the housing and configured to provide electrical power to the reversing camera system in the absence of electrical power in a trailer center marker light wiring, where the controller is configured to charge the battery storage in response to the presence of power in the trailer center marker light wiring. According to some embodiments of the present invention, a wireless communication method is provided between a reversing camera system and an external device. The method includes: transmitting, by means of the reversing camera system, the availability of the reversing camera system for connection with the external device on a wireless network in response to at least one of: receiving electrical power through wiring from a center marker light of a trailer; detecting a movement of the trailer by an accelerometer; or detecting a movement of the trailer by a gyroscope; receiving access credentials from the external device; and granting the external device access to the wireless network. In some versions, the method also includes: detecting a reverse movement of the trailer by the gyroscope; activating a camera of the reversing camera system; and transmitting video data corresponding to a rear view of the trailer to the external device. In some modes, the wireless communication method also includes: transmitting an operating status of the reversing camera system to the external device. In some modes, the wireless communication method also includes: receiving a command from the external device to capture, save on board, and / or transmit a still image. 0 Brief Description of the Figures The accompanying figures, together with the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain aspects of the embodiments of the present invention. Similar reference numbers are used throughout the figures to refer to similar features and components. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. The foregoing and other features and aspects of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a vehicle using a reversing camera system, according to some embodiments of the present invention. Figures 2A and 2B illustrate the front and rear perspective views, respectively, of the reversing camera system, according to some embodiments of the present invention; Figures 2C and 2D illustrate the front and rear views, respectively, of the reversing camera system, according to some embodiments of the present invention; and Figures 2E and 2F illustrate the top and side views, respectively, of the reversing camera system, according to some embodiments of the present invention. Figure 3 illustrates a block diagram of the reversing camera system, according to some embodiments of the present invention. Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating the communication process between the reversing camera system and the external device, according to some embodiments of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Invention The detailed description set forth below in relation to the accompanying figures is intended to be a description of illustrative embodiments of a trailer reversing camera system according to the present invention, and is not intended to represent the only ways in which the present invention may be implemented or used. The description sets forth the features of the present invention in relation to the illustrated embodiments. It should be understood, however, that the same functions and structures, or equivalent ones, may be achieved by different embodiments that are also intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention. As indicated elsewhere herein, similar element numbers are intended to denote similar elements or features. Figure 1 illustrates a vehicle using a reversing camera system, according to some embodiments of the present invention. As illustrated in Figure 1, the heavy vehicle includes a tractor 20 coupled to a trailer 30 which has a reversing camera system 100 installed on its rear to provide a view (e.g., through image or video capture) of the rear of the trailer 30. In some configurations, the backup camera system 100 is electrically coupled to the trailer electrical system 30 and can be electrically powered from the wiring 5 32 of the center marker light on the upper rear of the trailer 30. In some examples, the backup camera system 100 may include an internal battery (e.g., a rechargeable battery) that can power the operation of the backup camera system 100 when the trailer electrical system 10 30 does not provide power. In some examples, the reversing camera system 100 is positioned to be protected by a metal lip 34 that projects from the rear of the trailer 30, extending along at least the top side of the trailer 30. As shown in Figure 1, the lip 34 may also extend along the sides of the rear of the trailer 30. The lip 34 serves to protect the marker lights on the rear of the trailer (e.g., the top rear of the trailer 30) from damage when the trailer 30 is backed into a docking bay.By mounting the backup camera system 100 below the lip 34 on the upper rear of the trailer, the backup camera system 100 can be protected from coupling pipes and damage from snow scrapers that may be used to scrape 25 snow and ice from the top of the trailer 30, and can be at least partially protected from the elements (e.g., rain, snow, etc.). In addition, the high mounting position of the backup camera system 100 provides high (and generally unobstructed) visibility of the rear of the trailer, increasing the ease of use of the backup camera system 100. In examples where the trailer 30 is equipped with a telematics gateway (e.g., a telematics gateway circuit) 36, the reversing camera system 100 can communicate directly and transmit data to a telematics gateway 36 (which may be located in the front box of the trailer 30) via a power line carrier (PLC) connection over the center marker light wiring 32. However, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to these, and the reversing camera system 100 can communicate with the telematics gateway 36 via a trailer controller area network (CAN) bus 14, an RS232 / 485 connection, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other connection using a suitable protocol.The telematics gateway 36 can, in turn, transmit the backup camera system data (e.g., the captured image(s) / video(s) via a cellular or broadband connection to a remote server 40 (e.g., a remote server 40 in the cloud 50) for tracking, compilation and / or further processing. According to some embodiments, the backup camera system 100 is configured to communicate with the tractor 20 via PLC transmission. For example, the telematics gateway 36 may include a PLC transmitter that can transmit data received from the backup camera system 100 (e.g., via the PLC over the wiring 32 of the center marker light) to a device (e.g., a receiver) 22 inside the tractor 20. The device 22 may be an electronic recording device (ELD) on the dashboard / in the cab, a display device inside the cab, a tablet, a mobile device, and / or similar devices. In some models, the 100 reversing camera system has a corresponding downloadable app for a smartphone, tablet, or other Bluetooth and Wi-Fi compatible device. A user (for example, a driver) of a LracLor can download the app to connect to the 100 reversing camera system and use the reversing camera image on demand from their mobile device. In some configurations, the 25 Backup Camera 100 system also has a corresponding SDK (Software Development Kit) that ELD providers can use to enable their ELE device to display the backup camera image after connecting to the Backup Camera 100 system. Tractors in the USA are government-mandated to use the ELD device in the cab to monitor their HOS (hours of service). In some cases, the ELD device can be incorporated into a dashboard-mounted unit with a display capable of running sophisticated software and including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality. The ELD service provider can use the Backup Camera 100 system SDK to incorporate the backup camera functionality into the ELD device.In addition, tractor owners / operators can choose (or have already done so) to add an extra display to their truck's dashboard using a tablet or similar device. In this case, the provided mobile app or SDK can be used to retrieve the live feed from the backup camera system. In some models, the 100 reversing camera system is equipped with wireless communication capabilities, allowing it to connect and communicate wirelessly with an external device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, etc.). This can be particularly useful in situations where a 30 trailer is not equipped with a PLC transmitter. Figures 2I and 2B illustrate the front and rear perspective views, respectively, of the reversing camera system 100, according to some embodiments of the present invention; Figures 2C and 2D illustrate the front and rear views, respectively, of the reversing camera system 100, according to some embodiments of the present invention; and Figures 2E and 2F illustrate the top and side views, respectively, of the reversing camera system 100, according to some embodiments of the present invention. With reference to Figures 2A-2F, in some embodiments, the reversing camera system 100 includes a housing 102 that is configured to be mounted on the rear of the trailer 30 at the location of the trailer's center marker light 15. The housing 102 can be mounted to the rear of the trailer 30 by means of two fasteners / rivets that pass through mounting holes 104 on opposite sides of the housing 102. In some examples, installation of the reversing camera system 100 may involve removing the center marker light on the rear of the trailer 30, connecting the center marker light wiring to the rear of the reversing camera system 100, and attaching the housing 102 to the trailer at the center marker light location below the rim. 34 of the trailer 30. The reversing camera system 100 also includes a camera 110 in the housing, which is configured to capture a rear view of the trailer 30; a first light (for example, a first light-emitting diode (LED)) 112 in the center of a rear surface of the housing, which is offset and turned outwards from the trailer 30; and a second light (for example, a second LED) 114 on the rear surface of the housing and offset from the first light 112. The first and second lights, 112 and 114, of which only one may be illuminated at any given time, serve as a replacement for the center marker light on the upper rear of the trailer. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations require that the center marker light on the rear of the trailer be located in the exact center of the rear of the trailer. As such, in some examples, the backup camera system is positioned in the center of the rear of the trailer. In such examples, the backup camera system can be programmed to illuminate the first light and remain off the second light when the trailer is in motion.However, in some examples, the door posts at the rear of the trailer may not be symmetrical with respect to the center of the trailer rear 30, and the backup camera system 100 may be mounted 25 to be similarly offset from the center of the trailer rear. In such examples, the backup camera system 100 can be programmed to illuminate the second light 114 and keep the first light 112 off, which can be positioned to correspond to the center of the trailer rear. Therefore, the first and second lights 112 and 114 can allow an operator to comply with DOT regulations regardless of the door configuration at the rear of the trailer 30. As the reversing camera system is mounted high on the trailer 30, the rear surface 106 and camera lens 110 can be tilted downwards to provide a clear view of the entire surrounding area in the trailer's path and the immediate rear of the trailer itself 15. As shown in Figures 2B and 2D, the surface of the reversing camera system 100 may have an opening / hole 108 to allow routing of the wiring from the center marker light to the internal circuits of the reversing camera system 100. In some embodiments, the material constituting the housing 102 may include fiberglass-filled nylon; however, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to these, and the housing 102 may include any suitable material. Figure 3 illustrates a block diagram of the reversing camera system 100, according to some embodiments of the present invention. With reference to figure 3, according to some models, the circuits of the reversing camera system 100 include an accelerometer 116 to detect the movement of the trailer 30 on which the reversing camera system 100 is mounted; a gyroscope (or a two-axis motion sensor) 118 to detect the direction of movement of the trailer 30; a communication circuit 120 for communicating data with an external device; and a controller 130 for controlling the operations of the constituent components of the reversing camera system 100. For example, controller 130 can selectively connect either the first light 112 or the second light 114 to wiring 32 of the trailer's center marker light. In some configurations, the reversing camera system 100 also includes a switch 140 that is configured to selectively connect either the first light 112 or the second light 114 to wiring 32 based on a control signal from controller 130. In some instances, controller 130 can be programmed at the time of mounting housing 102 to use only one of the first and second lights 112 and 114, depending on the mounting position. Therefore, during operation, no more than one of the first and second lights will be active at any given time. 112 and 114 may be illuminated at any given time. In some configurations, when the trailer's electrical system 30 is powered (for example, when the tractor 20 is coupled to the trailer 30), the reversing camera system 100 can draw power from the center marker light wiring 32. The reversing camera system 100 may also include a battery storage unit (for example, an internal battery) 142 that supplies power to the internal circuitry of the reversing camera system 100, such as the controller 130, accelerometer 116, and gyroscope 118, in the absence of power at the trailer's center marker light wiring 32. The controller 130 can be configured to charge the battery storage unit 142 when power is present at the trailer's center marker light wiring 32. The reversing camera system 100 uses input from the accelerometer 116 and gyroscope 118 to determine its operating status. For example, the controller 130 can place the reversing camera system 20 100 into hibernation mode (e.g., low-power mute) in response to the absence of power in wiring 32 (which may indicate the tractor 20 and trailer 30 being disconnected), a lack of motion detection by the accelerometer and gyroscope, and / or a lack of wireless connection 25 with any other external device for a period of time (e.g., several minutes). In hibernation mode, the communication circuit 120 may not transmit any signal to minimize power consumption.Conversely, the controller 130 can activate the reversing camera system 100 in response to receiving electrical power through wiring 32, detect trailer movement by accelerometer 116 (e.g., trailer 30 being hit by a tractor 20), and / or detect trailer movement 30 by gyroscope 118. Although motion detection by either accelerometer 116 or gyroscope 118 may be sufficient to determine the movement of trailer 30, the combination of the sensor outputs from both more reliably determines that trailer 30 has coupled to a tractor 20 and is being driven away. For example, while accelerometer 116 may detect a bump to the trailer, that sudden detected movement does not necessarily indicate that a tractor 20 has coupled to trailer 30 and could be due to some other impact. Furthermore, while gyroscope 118 can indicate forward or backward movement of the trailer, a certain amount of sustained motion is required before its sensor output can be relied upon.However, a positive motion detection by the accelerometer 116 followed by motion detection by the gyroscope 118 (after a short period of time) can significantly increase the level of confidence that the trailer 30 is being driven by a tractor 20 and that the controller 130 should initiate the connection with the device. As part of initiating the activation of the backup camera system 100, the controller 130 generates an activation signal that causes the communication circuit 120 to broadcast the availability of the backup camera system 100 on a mesh network. This makes the backup camera system 100 visible to other devices within the range of the mesh network. The backup camera system 100 can connect to a device 22 upon receiving the correct access credentials from the external device 22, and then grant the external device 22 access to the mesh network and, therefore, to the images captured by the backup camera system 100 via the communication circuit 120. The communication circuit 120 allows the backup camera system 100 to act as both host and client in the mesh network. When the backup camera system 100 is the only one in the mesh network, it acts as a host that can assign an IP address to a client, i.e., an external device 22, and establish communication with that device. All 100 Backup Camera Systems can be configured at the time of manufacture to establish a mesh network that has the same name and is accessible through the same credentials. When more than one 100 Backup Camera System is in close proximity (such as when five or more trailers equipped with the 100 Backup Camera System are present in a trailer yard), they form a network of backup camera systems in which the 100 systems arbitrate with each other to determine which will act as the host while the others act as clients. Programming all 100 Backup Camera Systems to generate the same network with the same credentials makes the 100 Backup Camera Systems much easier to use.For example, once a tractor driver's device 22 connects to a trailer's reversing camera system 15, the same device 22 can automatically connect to any other trailer's reversing camera system 100 in its vicinity without having to select the corresponding network and enter the required credentials (e.g., the network password). This allows a driver to pull different trailers and communicate with their reversing camera systems without having to actively connect to the camera systems. In a situation where multiple camera systems are transmitting based on availability (as might occur in a busy trailer yard), the software provided as part of the external device's mobile application or SDK (e.g., the receiver) can scan transmissions from the identified camera systems in the area and attempt to correlate the movement of the external device (e.g., the movement of the tractor in which the device is located) with that of the available camera systems to determine which camera system (or trailer) it has recently connected to. Once movement begins, the mobile application or SDK can again attempt to correlate the reported movement from the camera system with that of the device to determine which camera system (or trailer) it has connected to.Furthermore, as movement begins on the road, the device can continuously recheck to confirm that the connected camera system remains the safest option. In circumstances where the certainty is below a threshold (e.g., 80%), the user / driver can be prompted to select from a list of available camera systems. Once the reversing camera system 100 is connected to an external device 22, the controller 25 130 can activate the camera 110 in response to the detection of the trailer's reverse movement 30 by the gyroscope 118 to allow a user of the external device (e.g., the tractor driver 20) to see the rear of the trailer 10 3 0. According to some configurations, the communication circuit 120 includes a Wi-Fi transceiver 122 and a Bluetooth transceiver 124, which enable wireless communication of the backup camera system 100. In some examples, the higher performance of the Wi-Fi transceiver 122 allows video transmission to an external device 22, while the Bluetooth transceiver 124 can be used to program configuration settings and facilitate diagnostics. For example, the backup camera system 100 can use the Bluetooth transceiver 124 to provide the operating status of the camera system 100 or one or more images captured by the camera system 100 to the telematics gateway for communication with a remote server 40.In some examples, when the reversing camera system 100 detects a strong impact (such as a crash), the camera system 100 can transmit images / video from the moment of impact to the external device 22 and / or the telematics gateway 36. The controller 130 may include a processor (for example, a processing circuit) 132 and a memory 134 that has instructions stored therein which, when executed by the processor 132, they enable it to perform the operations of the controller 130. As used here, the term processor or processing circuit includes any combination of hardware, firmware, and software employed to process data or digital signals. The processing circuit hardware may include, for example, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), general-purpose or special-purpose central processing units (CPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), graphics processing units (GPUs), and programmable logic devices such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).In a processing circuit, as used here, each function is performed by hardware configured, i.e., wired, to perform that function, or by more general-purpose hardware, such as a CPU, configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transient storage medium. A processing circuit can be fabricated on a single printed circuit board (PWB) or distributed across several interconnected PWBs. A processing circuit can contain other processing circuits; for example, a processing circuit might include two processing circuits, an FPGA and a CPU, interconnected on a PWB. Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating the communication process 400 between the reversing camera system 100 and the external device 22, according to some embodiments of the present invention. In some modes, the reversing camera system transmits readiness to communicate with the external device in a mesh network in response to at least one of: receiving electrical power through wiring from a center marker light on a trailer; detecting trailer movement by an accelerometer 116; or detecting trailer movement by means of a gyroscope 118 (S402). The backup camera system 100 then communicates with external device 22 upon receiving access credentials from external device 22 (S404), and grants external device 22 access to the mesh network (S406). Once communication has been established, in some modes, the reversing camera system 100 also detects a reverse movement of the trailer 30 by the gyroscope 118, activates the camera 110 or the reversing camera system 100, and transmits the corresponding video data of a rear view of the trailer 30 to an external device 22. In addition, the reversing camera system 100 transmits an operating status of the reversing camera system 100 to external device 22. The reversing camera system 100 can also receive a command from external device 22 to capture, save on board (save to memory 134), and / or transmit a still image. As described above, the Backup Camera System 100 offers an easy-to-install solution that eliminates the need for a tractor driver to connect a physical connector or interrogate a unique camera identifier to connect a receiver (e.g., mobile device, ELD, etc.) to the camera on the trailer being towed. The Backup Camera System 100 can replace the center marker light at the rear of the trailer and be powered by the center marker light's electrical wiring. The Backup Camera System 100 can be mounted under a lip that extends from the rear of the trailer and along the upper flange, protecting the system from damage caused by coupling and the elements. The scope of the present invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described herein. In fact, various other embodiments and modifications of the invention, in addition to those described herein, may be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description and the accompanying figures. It is therefore intended that such other embodiments and modifications fall within the scope of the invention. Furthermore, although the invention has been described herein in the context of a particular implementation in a particular environment for a particular purpose, those skilled in the art may recognize that its usefulness is not limited to that and that the invention can be advantageously implemented in any number of environments for any number of purposes. Accordingly, the claims set forth below should be interpreted taking into account the full scope and spirit of the invention as described herein and its equivalents. The terminology used herein is intended to describe particular modalities and is not meant to be limiting of the inventive concept. As used herein, the singular forms a and an also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It shall be further understood that the terms includes, comprising, comprises, and / or comprising, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. As used herein, the term and / or includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed elements associated with it. For the purposes of this description, at least one of X, Y or Z and at least one selected from the group consisting of X, Y and Z may be interpreted as only X, only Y, only Z, or any combination of two or more of X, Y and Z, such as, for example, XYZ, XYY, YZ and ZZ. Furthermore, the use of "may" when describing modalities of the inventive concept refers to one or more modalities of the inventive concept. Additionally, the term "exemplary" is intended to refer to an example or illustration. When an element or layer is referred to as being on, connected to, coupled to, or adjacent to another element or layer, it may be directly on, connected to, coupled to, or adjacent to the other element or layer, or one or more intermediate layers or elements may be present. When an element or layer is referred to as being directly on, directly connected to, directly coupled to, or immediately adjacent to another element or layer, no intermediate layers or elements are present. As used in this document, the terms substantially, approximately, and similar terms are used as terms of approximation and not as terms of degree, and are intended to account for inherent variations in measured or calculated values ​​that might be recognized by those skilled in the art. As used herein, the terms use, using, and used may be considered synonymous with the terms utilize, using, and used, respectively. Unless otherwise stated, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person skilled in the art to which the present inventive concept belongs. It is further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted in a way that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and / or this specification, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense, unless expressly defined as such in this document. The reversing camera system and / or any other relevant device or component according to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be implemented using any hardware, firmware (for example, an application-specific integrated circuit), software, or a suitable combination of software, firmware, and hardware. For example, the various components of the reversing camera system may be formed on a single integrated circuit (IC) chip or on separate IC chips. Furthermore, the various components of the reversing camera system may be implemented on a flexible printed circuit film, a tape carrier package (TCP), a printed circuit board (PCB), or formed on a single substrate. Furthermore, the various components of the reversing camera system may be a process or subprocess, running on one or more processors, on one or more computing devices, executing instructions from computer programs and interacting with other system components to perform the various functionalities described in this document. The computer program instructions are stored in memory, which can be implemented in a computing device using a standard memory device, such as random access memory (RAM). The computer program instructions may also be stored on other non-transient, computer-readable media, such as a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, or similar devices.Furthermore, a person skilled in the art must recognize that the functionality of several computer devices can be combined or integrated into a single computer device, or that the functionality of a particular computer device can be distributed among one or more computer devices without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. better It is noted that with regard to this known method of the aforementioned invention, date, applicant to carry out is the one that is clear from the present description of the invention.

Claims

5 1. A reversing camera system, characterized in that it comprises: a housing configured to be mounted on the rear of a trailer at the location of a center marker light of the trailer and having a rear surface 10 offset and turned outward from the trailer; a camera in the housing and configured to capture a rear view of the trailer; a first light in the center of the rear surface of the housing; 15 a second light on the rear surface of the housing and offset from the first light; and a controller within the housing and configured to selectively couple either the first light or the second light to wiring from the center marker light of the trailer. 20 2. The reversing camera system according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing is configured to be mounted under a rim on the upper rear of the trailer.

3. The reversing camera system according to claim 1, further comprising: a switch configured to selectively couple the first or second light to the wiring of the trailer's center marker light based on a control signal from the controller. 5 4. The reversing camera system according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises: an accelerometer configured to detect the movement of the trailer; and a gyroscope configured to detect a direction 10 of trailer movement.

5. The reversing camera system according to claim 4, characterized in that the controller is further configured to activate the camera in response to the detection of the reversing movement of the trailer by the gyroscope.

6. The reversing camera system according to claim 4, characterized in that it further comprises: a communication circuit configured to transmit the availability of the reversing camera system 20 in a mesh network to other devices in the mesh network in response to an activation signal, wherein the controller is further configured to generate the activation signal in response to at least one of: receiving electrical power through the wiring of 25 the trailer's center marker light; detecting trailer movement by the accelerometer; or detecting trailer movement by the gyroscope. 5' / .The reversing camera system according to claim 6, characterized in that the communication circuit comprises: a wifi transceiver configured to establish a wireless mesh network and allow video transmission 10 from the camera to an external device located in the mesh network; and a bluetooth transceiver configured to communicate an operating status of the reversing camera system to at least one of the external devices or a trailer telematics gateway 15.

8. The reversing camera system according to claim 6, characterized in that the communication circuit is configured to communicate with a trailer telematics gateway via the power line carrier protocol.

9. The reversing camera system according to claim 4, characterized in that it further comprises: a battery storage within the housing and configured to provide electrical power to the controller, gyroscope, and accelerometer in the absence of electrical power in the trailer center marker light wiring, wherein the controller is configured to charge the battery storage in response to the presence of power in the trailer center marker light wiring.

10. The reversing camera system according to claim 4, characterized in that the controller is configured to place the reversing camera system 10 into hibernation mode in response to one or more of: a lack of power in the trailer center marker light wiring; a lack of motion detection by at least one of the accelerometer or gyroscope; and 15 a lack of wireless connection with any other external device for a period of time.

11. A network of reversing camera systems, characterized in that it comprises: a plurality of reversing camera systems 20 configured to form a mesh network accessible by the same access credentials, each reversing camera system of the plurality of reversing camera systems comprising: a housing configured to be mounted on the rear portion 25 of a trailer; a camera in the housing and configured to capture images of a rear view of the trailer; a communication circuit configured to grant access to an external device to the mesh network via the access credentials 5, and to transmit the images to the external device; and a controller configured to control the operations of the camera and the communication circuit.

12. The reversing camera system network of 10 according to claim 11, characterized in that the controller is configured to detect a movement of the trailer by means of an accelerometer or a gyroscope, and wherein the controller is further configured to detect the presence of electrical power in a wiring of 15 a central marker light of the trailer.

13. The reversing camera system network according to claim 12, characterized in that the controller is further configured to generate an activation signal in response to at least one of the detection of trailer movement or the detection of the presence of electrical power in the wiring of the center marker light, and wherein the communication circuit is further configured to transmit the availability of the reversing camera system in the mesh network to other devices in the mesh network in response to the activation signal.

14. The reversing camera system network according to claim 11, characterized in that the 5 housing is mounted in a location of a central marker light of the trailer.

15. The reversing camera system network according to claim 11, characterized in that it further comprises: 10 a first light in the center of a rear surface of the housing; and a second light on the rear surface of the housing and offset from the first light, wherein the controller is configured to 15 selectively couple the first light or the second light to a wiring harness of a central trailer marker light.

16. The reversing camera system network according to claim 11, characterized in that the reversing camera system further comprises: 20 a battery storage within the housing and configured to provide electrical power to the reversing camera system in the absence of electrical power in a trailer center marker light wiring, wherein the controller is configured to charge 25 the battery storage in response to the presence of power in the trailer center marker light wiring.

17. A method of wireless communication between a reversing camera system and an external device, characterized in that it comprises: transmitting, by means of the reversing camera system, the availability of the reversing camera system to connect with the external device on a wireless network in response to at least one of: receiving electrical power through wiring from a center marker light of a trailer; detecting trailer movement by means of an accelerometer; or detecting trailer movement by means of a gyroscope; receiving access credentials from the external device; and granting the external device access to the wireless network.

18. The Wireless communication method according to claim 17, characterized in that it further comprises: detecting a reverse movement of the trailer by the gyroscope; activating a camera of the reversing camera system; and transmitting the video data corresponding to a rear view of the trailer to the external device.

19. The wireless communication method of 5 in accordance with claim 17, characterized in that it further comprises: transmitting an operating state of the reversing camera system to the external device.

20. The wireless communication method of 10 according to claim 17, characterized in that it further comprises: receiving a command from the external device to capture, store on board, and / or transmit a still image.

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