Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for linear precoding in full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) systems. According to aspects, an eNB may compress a larger number of antenna elements to a smaller number of antenna ports. The eNB may use a port precoding matrix to transmit reference signals to a UE, receive feedback regarding CSI based on the reference signals, and transmit data to the UE, based on a mapping of multiple data layers and mapping of antenna ports to the physical antenna elements. Further, aspects include performing elevation beamforming by dynamically forming one or more vertical sectors based on UE feedback in the elevation domain.