Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate efficient cell acquisition in a wireless communication system. In one aspect, a reference signal for use in cell acquisition can be constructed in a bandwidth-agnostic manner such that it contains a common central portion in a predetermined frequency band that is independent of a bandwidth utilized by an associated wireless communication system. The central portion can be constructed as a two-dimensional block in time and frequency that spans a default cell search bandwidth, a predetermined bandwidth specified by synchronization codes or other signals, or another suitable bandwidth. A reference signal can then be constructed form the central portion by tiling or expanding the central portion such that it spans the entire system bandwidth.