A method is provided for memory management in a communications system using a HARQ error control mechanism, in which a transmitter establishes a plurality of HARQ channels with a receiver. The method includes determining whether each received encoded HARQ packet needs to be combined with an encoded HARQ packet already stored in HARQ memory. In case a received encoded HARQ packet does not need to be combined, the method determines whether there is a free memory space available in the HARQ memory for storing that received encoded HARQ packet, and if so, allocating that free memory space for storage of that received encoded HARQ packet. If not, the method determines whether a certain amount of memory space can be forced to be freed, and if so, de-allocates it and then allocates it for storage of that received encoded HARQ packet, that packet is sent to an FEC decoder.