Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with controlling the flow of packets in a network are described. According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes a transceiver and a flow logic. The flow logic is configured to control the transceiver to transmit a frame to a downstream device by determining whether the frame matches a predetermined pattern. The predetermined pattern identifies a source of frames. The predetermined pattern specifies an action to perform for frames received from the source that are to be transmitted to the downstream device. The flow logic is also configured to control the transceiver to transmit a frame to a downstream device by, in response to determining that the frame matches the predetermined pattern, controlling transmission of the frame to the downstream device according to the action specified by the predetermined pattern.