+why not memset the whole area here and then populate it..?
+ ret = of_property_read_u8_array(np, "qcom,ports-hstop", hstop, nports);
+ if (ret)
+ memset(hstop, SWR_INVALID_PARAM, QCOM_SDW_MAX_PORTS);
+
+ ret = of_property_read_u8_array(np, "qcom,ports-word-length",
+ word_length, nports);