NexusHome IoT Platform

Advanced IoT Smart Home Energy Management System

Powered by AI-driven Predictive Analytics, Real-time Monitoring, and Automated Optimization

Features • Quick Start • Documentation • Contributing • Support

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• Key Features
• Technology Stack
• Architecture
• Quick Start
• Configuration
• API Documentation
• Testing
• Deployment
• Security
• Contributing
• License
• Support
• Roadmap

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Overview

NexusHome IoT Platform is a comprehensive smart home energy management solution that leverages modern IoT protocols, machine learning, and real-time data processing to optimize energy consumption, reduce costs, and automate home operations.

The platform supports multi-protocol device communication (MQTT, HTTP, CoAP, Matter), provides advanced analytics through ML.NET, and delivers real-time updates via SignalR WebSocket connections.

Why NexusHome?

• Energy Savings: Reduce energy consumption by up to 30% through AI-powered optimization
• Predictive Maintenance: Detect device failures before they happen with 90%+ accuracy
• Real-time Control: Monitor and control all devices instantly from anywhere
• Universal Compatibility: Support for all major IoT protocols and device standards
• Enterprise Ready: Production-grade security, scalability, and monitoring

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Key Features

Smart Device Management

• Multi-protocol device support (MQTT, HTTP, CoAP, Matter)
• Real-time device status monitoring via SignalR
• Automated device discovery and provisioning
• Room-based device organization
• Device health monitoring and diagnostics

AI-Powered Intelligence

• Predictive Maintenance: ML.NET models for failure prediction
• Energy Optimization: Dynamic power management based on usage patterns
• Smart Automation: Learning-based device automation rules
• Anomaly Detection: Real-time identification of unusual behavior
• Load Forecasting: Predict future energy consumption patterns

Analytics and Visualization

• Interactive real-time dashboards
• Historical data analysis and trend identification
• Cost optimization reports and recommendations
• Energy consumption breakdown by device and room
• Performance metrics and system health monitoring

Enterprise Security

• JWT-based authentication with role-based access control
• Device certificate authentication
• End-to-end TLS/SSL encryption
• API rate limiting and DDoS protection
• Comprehensive audit logging

Integration Capabilities

• RESTful API with OpenAPI documentation
• SignalR hubs for real-time communication
• MQTT broker integration
• Azure IoT Hub support (optional)
• Weather API integration for smart optimization

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Technology Stack

Core Framework

.NET 8.0 - Latest LTS with performance enhancements ASP.NET Core - High-performance web framework Entity Framework Core 8.0 - Advanced ORM with SQL Server SignalR - Real-time bi-directional communication

MQTTnet - High-performance MQTT client/server ML.NET - Machine learning and predictive analytics Serilog - Structured logging framework AutoMapper - Object-object mapping

Data Storage

• SQL Server - Primary relational database
• Redis - High-performance caching and session storage
• InfluxDB - Time-series data storage

DevOps and Monitoring

• Docker & Docker Compose - Containerized deployment
• Grafana - Advanced data visualization
• Prometheus - Metrics collection and monitoring
• GitHub Actions - CI/CD automation

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Architecture

The platform follows a clean, layered architecture pattern:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Presentation Layer                       │
│              (Blazor WebAssembly + REST API)                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                    Application Layer                        │
│          ┌──────────────────┬──────────────────┐            │
│          │  API Controllers │   SignalR Hubs   │            │
│          └──────────────────┴──────────────────┘            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                   Business Logic Layer                      │
│  ┌──────────────┬─────────────┬────────────┬──────────┐    │
│  │   Device     │   Energy    │  AI/ML     │  Auto-   │    │
│  │  Management  │  Analytics  │  Services  │  mation  │    │
│  └──────────────┴─────────────┴────────────┴──────────┘    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                  Infrastructure Layer                       │
│  ┌──────────────┬─────────────┬────────────┐               │
│  │  Data Access │ External    │  Message   │               │
│  │  (EF Core)   │  APIs       │  Queue     │               │
│  └──────────────┴─────────────┴────────────┘               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                    Data Storage Layer                       │
│         SQL Server  │  InfluxDB  │  Redis                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Design Patterns

• Clean Architecture - Separation of concerns with dependency inversion
• Repository Pattern - Data access abstraction
• CQRS - Command Query Responsibility Segregation
• Event-Driven - Asynchronous processing with background services
• Dependency Injection - Loose coupling and testability

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• .NET 8.0 SDK
• Docker Desktop
• SQL Server or SQL Server Express
• Git
• IDE: Visual Studio 2022 or VS Code

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/aaron-seq/NexusHome_IoT.git
cd NexusHome_IoT

2. Setup environment

# Create necessary directories
mkdir -p logs data uploads certificates

# Copy configuration file
cp appsettings.json appsettings.Development.json

3. Configure database

# Install EF Core tools
dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

# Update connection string in appsettings.Development.json
# Then create and apply migrations
dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate
dotnet ef database update

4. Run the application

# Restore dependencies
dotnet restore

# Build the project
dotnet build

# Run in development mode
dotnet run

5. Access the application

• Main Application: http://localhost:5000
• API Documentation: http://localhost:5000/swagger
• Health Check: http://localhost:5000/health

Docker Deployment

For a complete stack deployment:

# Start all services
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop services
docker-compose down

Services will be available at:

• Application: http://localhost:5000
• Grafana: http://localhost:3000
• Prometheus: http://localhost:9090

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Configuration

Environment Variables

Key configuration options:

# Database
ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection="Server=localhost;Database=NexusHomeIoT;Trusted_Connection=true"
ConnectionStrings__Redis="localhost:6379"

# Security
JwtAuthentication__SecretKey="your-secret-key-min-32-characters"
JwtAuthentication__Issuer="NexusHome.IoT"
JwtAuthentication__Audience="NexusHome.Clients"
JwtAuthentication__ExpirationMinutes=60

# MQTT Configuration
MqttBroker__Host="localhost"
MqttBroker__Port=1883
MqttBroker__Username="nexususer"
MqttBroker__Password="your-secure-password"

# External Services
WeatherApi__ApiKey="your-openweather-api-key"
WeatherApi__BaseUrl="https://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5"

Configuration Files

• appsettings.json - Base configuration
• appsettings.Development.json - Development overrides
• appsettings.Production.json - Production settings
• docker-compose.yml - Docker service orchestration

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API Documentation

Authentication

All API endpoints require JWT authentication:

POST /api/auth/login
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "username": "admin",
  "password": "your-password"
}

Key Endpoints

Device Management

GET    /api/devices              # List all devices
GET    /api/devices/{id}         # Get device details
POST   /api/devices/{id}/toggle  # Toggle device state
POST   /api/devices/telemetry    # Submit telemetry data
GET    /api/devices/{id}/energy  # Get energy consumption

Energy Analytics

GET    /api/energy/consumption   # Total consumption data
GET    /api/energy/cost          # Cost analysis
GET    /api/energy/forecast      # Usage predictions
GET    /api/energy/optimization  # Optimization suggestions

Automation Rules

GET    /api/automation/rules     # List automation rules
POST   /api/automation/rules     # Create new rule
PUT    /api/automation/rules/{id} # Update rule
DELETE /api/automation/rules/{id} # Delete rule

Real-time Communication

Connect to SignalR hubs for real-time updates:

const connection = new signalR.HubConnectionBuilder()
    .withUrl("/hubs/device-status")
    .build();

// Subscribe to device updates
connection.on("DeviceStatusChanged", (device) => {
    console.log(`Device ${device.id} status: ${device.status}`);
});

await connection.start();

For complete API documentation, visit /swagger when running the application.

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Testing

Unit Tests

# Run all tests
dotnet test

# Run with code coverage
dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"

# Run specific test category
dotnet test --filter "Category=Integration"

Integration Tests

# Run integration tests
dotnet test --filter "Category=Integration"

# Test with real database
dotnet test --filter "Category=DatabaseIntegration"

Load Testing

Using k6 for performance testing:

# Install k6
brew install k6  # macOS

# Run load test
k6 run --vus 50 --duration 60s scripts/load-test.js

API Testing

# Test device endpoint
curl -X GET "http://localhost:5000/api/devices" \
     -H "Accept: application/json" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN"

# Submit telemetry
curl -X POST "http://localhost:5000/api/devices/telemetry" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "deviceId": "smart-thermostat-01",
       "sensorData": {"temperature": 23.5, "humidity": 45},
       "timestamp": "2025-11-08T10:00:00Z"
     }'

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Deployment

Production Checklist

Before deploying to production:

• Update all secrets and API keys
• Configure production database connection
• Enable HTTPS and configure SSL certificates
• Set up monitoring and alerting
• Configure backup strategy
• Review security settings and rate limits
• Set up log aggregation
• Configure CDN for static assets
• Enable database connection pooling
• Set up automated backups

Docker Production Build

# Build production image
docker build -t nexushome-iot:v2.1.0 -f Dockerfile.prod .

# Run production container
docker run -d \
  -p 80:80 \
  -p 443:443 \
  --name nexushome-prod \
  --env-file .env.production \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  nexushome-iot:v2.1.0

Cloud Deployment Options

Azure App Service

# Login to Azure
az login

# Create resource group
az group create --name nexushome-rg --location eastus

# Deploy to App Service
az webapp up --name nexushome-iot --resource-group nexushome-rg --runtime "DOTNET|8.0"

AWS ECS/Fargate

# Push to ECR
aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin YOUR_ECR_REPO
docker tag nexushome-iot:latest YOUR_ECR_REPO/nexushome-iot:latest
docker push YOUR_ECR_REPO/nexushome-iot:latest

# Deploy to ECS (using task definition)
aws ecs update-service --cluster nexushome-cluster --service nexushome-service --force-new-deployment

Kubernetes

# Apply Kubernetes manifests
kubectl apply -f k8s/namespace.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/configmap.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/secrets.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/service.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/ingress.yaml

# Check deployment status
kubectl get pods -n nexushome
kubectl logs -f deployment/nexushome-iot -n nexushome

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Security

Security Best Practices

The platform implements multiple security layers:

Authentication and Authorization

• JWT tokens with configurable expiration
• Role-based access control (Admin, User, Device)
• API key authentication for IoT devices
• Refresh token rotation
• Password hashing with BCrypt

Data Protection

• SQL injection protection via parameterized queries
• Input validation and sanitization
• XSS protection with CSP headers
• CSRF token validation
• Encrypted data at rest and in transit

Network Security

• HTTPS enforcement (TLS 1.2+)
• CORS policy configuration
• Rate limiting (100 requests/minute per IP)
• DDoS protection via reverse proxy
• IP whitelisting for admin endpoints

Device Security

• Device certificate-based authentication
• Encrypted MQTT communication
• Device provisioning workflow
• Anomaly detection for suspicious activity

Security Configuration

{
  "SecuritySettings": {
    "RateLimiting": {
      "Enabled": true,
      "RequestsPerMinute": 100
    },
    "Cors": {
      "AllowedOrigins": ["https://yourdomain.com"],
      "AllowedMethods": ["GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE"],
      "AllowCredentials": true
    },
    "HttpsRedirection": true,
    "HstsMaxAge": 31536000
  }
}

Reporting Security Issues

If you discover a security vulnerability, please email [email protected]. Do not open a public issue.

For more details, see SECURITY.md.

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Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, or improving documentation, your help is appreciated.

How to Contribute

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch

   git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature

3. Make your changes
4. Run tests

   dotnet test
   dotnet format --verify-no-changes

5. Commit your changes

   git commit -m "Add amazing feature"

6. Push to your branch

   git push origin feature/amazing-feature

7. Open a Pull Request

Contribution Guidelines

• Follow C# coding conventions and style guidelines
• Write unit tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed
• Keep pull requests focused and atomic
• Reference relevant issues in PR descriptions

For detailed guidelines, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Code of Conduct

This project adheres to a Code of Conduct. By participating, you are expected to uphold this code.

See CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md for details.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. You are free to use, modify, and distribute this software.

See LICENSE for the full license text.

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 Aaron Sequeira

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files...

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Support

Documentation

• API Documentation: Available at /swagger when running
• Architecture Guide: See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• Deployment Guide: See docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
• Troubleshooting: See docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md

Community Support

• GitHub Issues: Report bugs or request features
• GitHub Discussions: Ask questions and share ideas
• Stack Overflow: Tag questions with nexushome-iot

Contact

• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: Aaron Sequeira
• GitHub: @aaron-seq

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Roadmap

Current Version: v2.1.0

Upcoming: v2.2.0 (Q1 2026)

• Voice assistant integration (Alexa, Google Assistant)
• Cross-platform mobile app (React Native)
• Enhanced ML models for energy prediction
• Multi-tenant architecture support
• Advanced reporting and export features

Future: v2.3.0 (Q2 2026)

• Edge computing support for local processing
• Blockchain-based device identity management
• Solar panel and battery integration
• Community energy sharing marketplace
• Advanced weather correlation

Long-term Vision

• Global smart grid integration
• Carbon footprint tracking and offsetting
• Peer-to-peer energy trading
• Machine learning model marketplace
• IoT device ecosystem partnerships

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to:

• Microsoft .NET Team for the excellent .NET 8 framework
• Eclipse Mosquitto for the reliable MQTT broker
• ML.NET Team for machine learning capabilities
• Open Source Community for amazing libraries and tools
• Contributors who have helped improve this project

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Project Statistics

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Built with care by Aaron Sequeira and the NexusHome community

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