System and method employing a dedicated reference signal sequence for precoding weight identification

A communication system including a transmitter and a receiver that employs a dedicated reference signal sequence for precoding weight identification to decode user data. In one embodiment, the transmitter (145) includes a precoding weight selector (152) configured to select a precoding weight, and a dedicated reference signal sequence selector (156) configured to select a reference signal sequence based on the precoding weight and provide a dedicated reference signal sequence therefrom. The transmitter (145) also includes an encoder (150) configured to encode user symbols with the precoding weight to produce user data. In one embodiment, the receiver (175) includes a precoding weight detector (193) configured to identify the precoding weight applied to the dedicated reference signal sequence from a set of signal replicas including precoding weights combined with corresponding reference signal sequences, and a data detector (194) configured to decode the user data using the precoding weight.