Described herein are systems and methods for device management, and more particularly systems and methods for auto addressing in a control network. For example, some embodiments relate to procedures and protocols implemented in the context of a building management system thereby to allow auto addressing of IO devices. In one embodiment, each IO device includes a respective engineering data key (EDK), which is indicative of device data such as the device type and function. This EDK is combined with a generated number thereby to define a device identification code that has significant chances of uniqueness. The device identification code is communicated to a controller to which the IO device connects in a bus-based topology. The controller uses the identification code to assign a network address to the IO device, using a stored repository of network addresses available for such assignment.