US-12621415-B2 - System for enabling a camera-generated video stream on an OEM vehicle screen and method of use thereof

US12621415B2US 12621415 B2US12621415 B2US 12621415B2US-12621415-B2

Abstract

A system for causing a display of a video on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) display of a land vehicle; it has a camera for generating the video, the camera for fastening to the vehicle; and a router for communicating with the camera, comprising a wireless input/output interface; and a controller configured to receive via the input/output interface an Internet signal through tethering using a short-range wireless network generated by the portable computer; generate an Internet signal from the local wireless network generated by a portable computer to enable WiFi by the vehicle; transmit a command to the camera to start producing a video and to transmit the video to the router; receive the video from the camera; and transmit wirelessly the received video to an IP address of a web server hosted locally by the router; and a method of use thereof.

Inventors

Jack Wisnia
Feng Du

Assignees

14788591 Canada Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20250612

Claims (8)

1 . An after-market system for causing a display of a video on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) screen of a land vehicle, comprising: an after-market camera, adapted for installation on a vehicle after manufacturing of the vehicle, for generating the video, the camera for fastening to the vehicle; and an after-market router for installation after manufacturing of the vehicle in the vehicle for communicating with the camera, the router comprising: a wireless input/output interface comprising a LAN interface; and a controller configured to: establish via the input/output interface a short-range wireless connection with a portable computer via tethering initiated by the portable computer to receive a WiFi signal from the portable computer; generate via the input/output interface a wireless signal, where the wireless signal is routed from the short-range wireless connection generated by a portable computer, to establish an Internet connection and to enable a WiFi connection by the vehicle; generate a local area network; transmit a command to the camera to start producing a video and to transmit the video produced by the camera to the router over the local area network generated by the router; receive the video from the camera over the local area network; and transmit over the local area network via the LAN interface the received video to an IP address of a web server hosted locally by the router, the web server stored by the router, whereby the video of the camera is viewable on the OEM screen by providing to the vehicle as input a string of characters corresponding to the IP address.
2 . The system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising a fastener for attaching the camera to the vehicle.
3 . The system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle.
4 . The system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the portable computer is a smartphone.
5 . A road vehicle comprising the system as defined in claim 1 .
6 . A method of enabling a display of a video on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) display of a land vehicle through installation of an after-market router, comprising: receiving a short-range wireless signal from a portable computer for establishing an Internet connection through tethering with the portable computer; generating and transmitting a wireless signal by routing the Internet connection using the after-market router, that was installed in the vehicle after manufacturing of the vehicle, for establishing an Internet connection and to enable a WiFi connection by the vehicle; generating a local area network using the router; causing an after-market camera attached to the vehicle after manufacturing of the vehicle to generate an image stream; receiving the image stream generated by the vehicle camera over the local area network; and transmitting wirelessly via a LAN interface of the router over the local area network the received video to a web server hosted locally by the router, the web server stored by the router, whereby a user may view the image stream generated by the camera on the OEM display by providing to the vehicle as input a string of characters corresponding to an IP address of the web server.
7 . The method as defined in claim 6 , wherein the causing a camera is triggered upon a turning on of the vehicle.
8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions for causing a display of a video on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) screen of a land vehicle through installation of an after-market router, the program instructions executable by a processing unit for: establishing a short-range wireless connection via tethering initiated by a portable computer; generating a wireless signal, where the wireless signal is routed from the short-range wireless connection established with the portable computer, to establish an Internet connection using the router and to enable a WiFi connection by the vehicle; generating a local area network; transmitting a command to an after-market camera attached to the vehicle after manufacturing of the vehicle to start producing a video and to transmit the video to the router over the local area network; receiving the video from the camera over the local area network; and transmitting over the local area network via a LAN interface of the router the received video to an IP address of a web server hosted locally by the router, the web server stored by the router, whereby the video of the camera is viewable on the OEM screen by providing to the vehicle as input a string of characters corresponding to the IP address.

Description

The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/664,509 filed on Jun. 26, 2024, incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to after-market additions for motor vehicles, and more particularly to after-market cameras for motor vehicles. BACKGROUND Certain land vehicles impose certain conditions for use of a local WiFi signal therein (a local wireless network). Such vehicles include, but are not limited to, Tesla™ electric vehicles. As such, this limitation can impede the installation of certain after-market add-ons for the vehicle which depend on a WiFi for communicating information to the vehicle, or to equipment found within the vehicle. An exemplary after-market add-on may be an after-market camera to be installed on the outside of the vehicle. As such, it would be advantageous to arrive at a solution to leverage a WiFi made available in the vehicle despite prohibitions imposed by the vehicle on the use of the WiFi by the vehicle. SUMMARY The present disclosure relates systems and methods for sharing information generated by an after-market device (e.g. a video stream generated by an after-market camera) on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) screen of a land vehicle using a WiFi made available in the vehicle, when the vehicle imposes certain restrictions on use or availability of a WiFi made available within the vehicle. For instance, a vehicle may only enable use of a local WiFi signal within the vehicle when the local WiFi signal, or the source of the local WiFi signal, is connectable to the Internet or has established an Internet connection. The present system includes a router, for installation in the vehicle, that receives a wireless WiFi signal from a portable computing device using a short-range wireless connection (e.g. a Bluetooth™ connection) through tethering (e.g. a Bluetooth™ Hotspot™). The router then outputs a wireless signal for establishing a connection with the Internet from the short-range wireless connection established with the portable computing device through tethering of the short-range wireless connection. The vehicle now permits use of the WiFi signal also generated by the router. As such, the router generates a local area network for use within the vehicle. The router then transmits a command to the after-market device (e.g. the camera), installed on the vehicle, to begin generating data (e.g. in the case of a camera, the command is to begin generating an image stream). The router receives the data (e.g. the image stream) generated by the after-market device transmitted via the local area network. The router causes the data to be made available on a webserver, by hosting the data on the webserver for viewing from the webserver, using the enabled local area network, accessible using a given IP address. A user of the vehicle may access the data (e.g. the video) by providing as user input on an input interface of the vehicle the string of characters corresponding to the IP address, thereby causing the OEM screen of the vehicle to display the information found on the webserver corresponding to the IP address. A broad aspect is a system for causing a display of a video on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) screen of a land vehicle. The system includes a camera for generating the video, the camera for fastening to the vehicle; and a router for installation in the vehicle for communicating with the camera, including a wireless input/output interface; and a controller configured to: establish via the input/output interface a short-range wireless connection via tethering initiated by a portable computer; generate via the input/output interface a wireless signal, from the local wireless network generated by a portable computer, to establish an Internet connection and to a enable WiFi connection by the vehicle; generate a local area network; transmit a command to the camera to start producing a video and to transmit the video to the router over the local area network; receive the video from the camera over the local area network; and transmit over the local area network the received video to an IP address of a web server hosted locally by the router, whereby a user may view the video of the camera on the OEM screen by providing to the vehicle as input a string of characters corresponding to the IP address. In some embodiments, the system may include a fastener for attaching the camera to the vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle may be an electric vehicle. In some embodiments, the portable computer may be a smartphone. In some embodiments, the local wireless network may be via Bluetooth™ tethering. Another broad aspect is a road vehicle comprising the system as defined herein. Another broad aspect is a method of enabling a display of a video on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) display of a land vehicle. The method includes receiving a wireless signal for establishing an Internet connection