Index: App/Services/FPGA.c
===================================================================
diff -u -r1bd1ef307be5997209c42219d5be381bbeffabe4 -rf97f667f6147c200e47e46d50306a89ee57c19f3
--- App/Services/FPGA.c	(.../FPGA.c)	(revision 1bd1ef307be5997209c42219d5be381bbeffabe4)
+++ App/Services/FPGA.c	(.../FPGA.c)	(revision f97f667f6147c200e47e46d50306a89ee57c19f3)
@@ -158,6 +158,12 @@
     memset( &fpgaSensorReadings, 0, sizeof(FPGA_SENSORS_T) );
     memset( &fpgaActuatorSetPoints, 0, sizeof(FPGA_ACTUATORS_T) );
 
+    // initialize fpga comm buffers
+    memset( &fpgaWriteCmdBuffer, 0, FPGA_WRITE_CMD_BUFFER_LEN );
+    memset( &fpgaReadCmdBuffer, 0, FPGA_READ_CMD_BUFFER_LEN );
+    memset( &fpgaWriteResponseBuffer, 0, FPGA_WRITE_RSP_BUFFER_LEN );
+    memset( &fpgaReadResponseBuffer, 0, FPGA_READ_RSP_BUFFER_LEN );
+
     // enable interrupt notifications for FPGA serial port
     sciEnableNotification( scilinREG, SCI_OE_INT | SCI_FE_INT );
 
@@ -560,7 +566,7 @@
             // does the FPGA response CRC check out?
             if ( 1 ) // TODO - check response CRC
             {   // capture the read values
-                memcpy( &fpgaSensorReadings, fpgaReadResponseBuffer, sizeof(FPGA_SENSORS_T) );
+                memcpy( &fpgaSensorReadings, &fpgaReadResponseBuffer[1], sizeof(FPGA_SENSORS_T) );
                 result = FPGA_STATE_WRITE_ALL_ACTUATORS;
             }
         }
@@ -610,7 +616,15 @@
  *************************************************************************/
 static void setupDMAForWriteCmd( U32 bytes2Transmit )
 {
-    fpgaDMAWriteControlRecord.FRCNT = bytes2Transmit;
+    // verify # of bytes does not exceed buffer length
+    if ( bytes2Transmit <= FPGA_WRITE_CMD_BUFFER_LEN )
+    {
+        fpgaDMAWriteControlRecord.FRCNT = bytes2Transmit;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        // TODO - s/w fault
+    }
 }
 
 /*************************************************************************
@@ -642,7 +656,15 @@
  *************************************************************************/
 static void setupDMAForWriteResp( U32 bytes2Receive )
 {
-    fpgaDMAWriteRespControlRecord.FRCNT = bytes2Receive;
+    // verify # of bytes does not exceed buffer length
+    if ( bytes2Receive <= FPGA_WRITE_RSP_BUFFER_LEN )
+    {
+        fpgaDMAWriteRespControlRecord.FRCNT = bytes2Receive;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        // TODO - s/w fault
+    }
 }
 
 /*************************************************************************
@@ -674,7 +696,15 @@
  *************************************************************************/
 static void setupDMAForReadCmd( U32 bytes2Transmit )
 {
-    fpgaDMAReadControlRecord.FRCNT = bytes2Transmit;
+    // verify # of bytes does not exceed buffer length
+    if ( bytes2Transmit <= FPGA_READ_CMD_BUFFER_LEN )
+    {
+        fpgaDMAReadControlRecord.FRCNT = bytes2Transmit;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        // TODO - s/w fault
+    }
 }
 
 /*************************************************************************
@@ -706,7 +736,15 @@
  *************************************************************************/
 static void setupDMAForReadResp( U32 bytes2Receive )
 {
-    fpgaDMAReadRespControlRecord.FRCNT = bytes2Receive;
+    // verify # of bytes does not exceed buffer length
+    if ( bytes2Receive <= FPGA_READ_RSP_BUFFER_LEN )
+    {
+        fpgaDMAReadRespControlRecord.FRCNT = bytes2Receive;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        // TODO - s/w fault
+    }
 }
 
 /*************************************************************************