Hi! A quick question hoping for a quick answer . . . I need to provide 48MHz to facilitate clocking for my AT89C5131 USB interface project. I must admit almost complete ignorance regarding the difference between using an oscillator and a crystal. Can anyone point me in the right direction, please?

 

An Xtal is a component of an osc. You can also have an RC osc too. Check your datasheet. Probably all you need to supply is the xtal and a couple of caps and a resistor.

 

Unless you plan on using the 'clock' source for something else, a crystal, along with the required capacitors are sufficient.

You may want to ask yourself, should I use a crystal or a ceramic resonator, which is typically much smaller.

 

Hello,

You could also have a look at those small metal can crystal oscillators:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=XC1192-ND

Bertus