Aspects described herein relate to communicating a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) corresponding to a downlink control channel, buffering, based on receiving the DMRS, samples of a downlink data channel associated with the downlink control channel, and processing, during on a time period indicated based at least in part on a sequence of the DMRS, at least a portion of the samples of the downlink data channel. Another aspect relates to determining, based at least in part on a sequence of the DMRS, a time offset from the downlink control channel to a downlink data channel, and determining, based at least in part on the time offset, a time period based on which to transmit or start processing samples of the downlink data channel.