Flow control techniques are disclosed for use in data communications networks such as those implementing a time-domain wavelength interleaved network (TWIN) architecture or other suitable architectures. Such techniques may provide for congestion management and scheduling for asynchronous traffic. For example, in one aspect, a technique comprises collecting information at a node of an optical-based communications network, wherein at least a portion of the collected information pertains to congestion in the optical-based communications network, and adjusting a transmission rate of the node in response to at least a portion of the collected information such that the node operates under a substantially stable transmission schedule with respect to asynchronous data bursts. The transmission rate adjusting step/operation may further comprise adjusting the transmission rate such that the node operates under a substantially fair transmission schedule. The node may operate under a random transmission schedule.