A technique for improving link performance in a wireless communication system includes detecting whether subscriber stations in the wireless communication system are power-limited. The subscriber stations include at least a first subscriber station that is power-limited and a second subscriber station that is not power-limited. The technique assigns a first reference signal having a first cubic metric to the first subscriber station and a second reference signal having a second cubic metric to the second subscriber station. In this case, the first cubic metric is lower in magnitude than the second cubic metric.