In this paper the reduction of intersymbol interference (ISI) in mobile communication channels is addressed. A well known technique for ISI reduction is adaptive equalization in which the time-varying characteristics of the mobile channel are tracked by an adaptive algorithm. We compare different adaptive strategies and equalizer structures with respect to overall system performance in terms of computational complexity, numerical stability, finite wordlength effects, size and power consumption required for VLSI implementation. The adaptation strategies addressed are linear forward, decision feedback equalization. The selected algorithms are simulated in the Signal Processing Worksystem (SPW) tool complying to the Global System Mobile (GSM) ...