Do all 802.11 transceiver modules (like a wireless network card) have equalizers to correct for channel distortions? If yes, are the equalization algorithms typically implemented using DSP or just an MCU? Thanks
These cards all use chip sets from a few IC companies. I do not think that there is any equalization in the sense used in telephone modems. Some of them contain a time domain feature called RAKE which is a sort of equalization which takes the multipath signal components and adds them with a time delay. They have three "fingers" at most.
I think for 802.11b, a decision feedback equalizer is used for channel equalization, as for 802.11a/g, one-tap equalization in frequency domain is good enough since it's OFDM-based.