Ethernet pause aggregation for a relay device

A system comprising:

• a host device;
• a peer device;
• and
• a relay device connected between the host device and the peer device, the relay device comprising:
• a processor;
• memory in electronic communication with the processor;
• and
• instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the processor to:
• receive a control frame associated with data packets;
• determine a state of a state machine based on the control frame;
• transmit, when the state of the state machine is a first state, a pause request comprising the control frame to the host device or the peer device to pause a flow of data between the host device and the peer device;
• and
• enable the flow of data between the host device and the peer device when the state of the state machine is a second state different than the first state, wherein the state of the state machine mirrors a state of one of the host device or the peer device.

A device, comprising:

• a processor;
• memory in electronic communication with the processor;
• and
• instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the processor to:
• receive a control frame associated with data packets;
• determine a state of a state machine based on the control frame;
• transmit, when the state of the state machine is a first state, a pause request comprising the control frame to one or more of at least two other devices to pause a flow of data between the device and the one or more of the at least two other devices;
• determine that the state of the state machine changes from the first state to a second state different than the first state;
• and
• enable, in response to the first state changing to the second state, the flow of data between the device and the one or more of the at least two other devices, wherein the state of the state machine mirrors a state of the one or more of the at least two other devices.