Methods for reference signal mapping in non-linear precoding MIMO transmission

Embodiments include methods for operating a network node in a wireless network. Such embodiments include applying non-linear precoding to a first data stream to remove a representation of expected inter-stream interference due to a second data stream, thereby generating a corrected first data stream. Such embodiments also include applying linear precoding to the corrected first data stream and to a first reference signal (RS) stream to generate a first signal layer. The first RS stream is not corrected for the expected inter-stream interference prior to applying the linear precoding. Such embodiments also include transmitting the first signal layer to a user equipment (UE). Other embodiments include complementary methods performed by a UE, as well as network nodes and UEs configured to perform operations corresponding to such methods.