A system and a method for synchronization and link acquisition in cellular wireless systems with directional antennas are disclosed. In an embodiment a method on includes determining, by the UE, a subset of the antennas for communication, using, by the UE, the subset of the antennas to perform a measurement on at least one reference signal from a network controller, reporting, by the UE, channel state information (CSI) based on the measurement on the at least one reference signal and using, by the UE, the subset of the antennas to perform the communication with the network controller.