A system and method for determining the performance of a channel emulator includes an input signal, at least one transmitter configured to receive the input signal, the at least one transmitter coupled to at least one receiver through the channel emulator, the at least one transmitter configured to transmit the input signal through the channel emulator, the at least one receiver configured to receive a faded receive signal. The system also comprises a signal processor configured to receive a processor signal and the faded receive signal, the signal processor configured to correlate the processor signal and the faded receive signal to develop a correlated signal that represents a channel impulse of the channel emulator. The channel impulse of the channel emulator is used to extract at least one channel coefficient that reflects the performance of the channel emulator.