A base station includes a reference signal generator, a boost selector, and a transmitter. The reference signal generator provides a dedicated reference signal to be transmitted over a plurality of antennas to a dedicated user device. The boost selector selects a dedicated boost level that is specific for the dedicated reference signal. The boost selector applies the dedicated boost level to the dedicated reference signal and not to a data signal to be transmitted to the dedicated user device. The boost selector generates a boosted dedicated reference signal. The transmitter transmits the boosted dedicated reference signal and the data signal to the dedicated user device after beamforming weights are applied to the boosted dedicated reference signal and to the data signal.