size_t                  bulk_in_size;           /* the size of the receive buffer */
        __u8                    bulk_in_endpointAddr;   /* the address of the bulk in endpoint */
        __u8                    bulk_out_endpointAddr;  /* the address of the bulk out endpoint */
-       struct kref             kref;
+       struct kref             kref;
+       struct semaphore        limit_sem;              /* to stop writes at full throttle from
+                                                        * using up all RAM */
 };
 #define to_lcd_dev(d) container_of(d, struct usb_lcd, kref)
 
+#define USB_LCD_CONCURRENT_WRITES      5
+
 static struct usb_driver lcd_driver;
 static DEFINE_MUTEX(usb_lcd_open_mutex);
 
        /* free up our allocated buffer */
        usb_buffer_free(urb->dev, urb->transfer_buffer_length,
                        urb->transfer_buffer, urb->transfer_dma);
+       up(&dev->limit_sem);
 }
 
 static ssize_t lcd_write(struct file *file, const char __user * user_buffer, size_t count, loff_t *ppos)
 {
        struct usb_lcd *dev;
-        int retval = 0;
+        int retval = 0, r;
        struct urb *urb = NULL;
        char *buf = NULL;
        
        if (count == 0)
                goto exit;
 
+       r = down_interruptible(&dev->limit_sem);
+       if (r < 0)
+               return -EINTR;
+
        /* create a urb, and a buffer for it, and copy the data to the urb */
        urb = usb_alloc_urb(0, GFP_KERNEL);
-       if (!urb)
-               return -ENOMEM;
+       if (!urb) {
+               retval = -ENOMEM;
+               goto err_no_buf;
+       }
        
        buf = usb_buffer_alloc(dev->udev, count, GFP_KERNEL, &urb->transfer_dma);
        if (!buf) {
 error:
        usb_buffer_free(dev->udev, count, buf, urb->transfer_dma);
        usb_free_urb(urb);
+err_no_buf:
+       up(&dev->limit_sem);
        return retval;
 }
 
                goto error;
        }
        kref_init(&dev->kref);
+       sema_init(&dev->limit_sem, USB_LCD_CONCURRENT_WRITES);
 
        dev->udev = usb_get_dev(interface_to_usbdev(interface));
        dev->interface = interface;