This paper describes an experimental investigation of adsorption refrigeration with a single generator (adsorbent bed) in a basic cycle, which verifies the previous theoretical conclusions that the cycle time and the maximum desorption temperature (corresponding to the maximum temperature of external heat source) are key factors with various influences to the COP and the cooling capacity of a cycle on a prototype machine. Moreover, in order to investigate the difference between theoretical and real cycles, a new physical parameter, the packing coefficient, is introduced to the adsorption cycle