A method is provided for associating initial transmissions and retransmissions in semi-persistent scheduling. The method includes providing a first initial transmission associated with a first assigned Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process ID. The method further includes providing a second initial transmission associated with a second assigned HARQ process ID. The method further includes providing at least one retransmission associated with the first HARQ process ID. The second initial transmission occurs before the at least one retransmission, and the second assigned HARQ process ID is different from the first assigned HARQ process ID.