This paper presents a low-phase-noise charge pump phase-locked loop (PLL) based on a ring oscillator. It uses a 4-stage ring oscillator to provide orthogonal signals and exhibit a phase noise of -102 dBc/Hz at a carrier offset of 1 MHz. When powered by a 1.2 V DC supply, the static current of the PLL is less than 4 mA. The PLL is driven by a 40 MHz clock source and outputs a square wave at 2.56 GHz, with a phase noise of -94.8 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. The circuit is implemented using a 55 nm CMOS process, with a final layout area of only 0.06 mm2.