This paper presents a novel design methodology of a CMOS current starved ring Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) for wide tuning range and high linearity. The f-V tuning characteristic of the ring VCO depends on the current-voltage (Ibias-Vcontrol) characteristic of the replica bias and region of operation of current sources/sinks transistors (CSTs). The proposed design methodology linearizes the Ibias-Vcontrolcharacteristic and ensures the CSTs to operate in saturation region during switching and consequently enhances the tuning range without additional circuitry. The design is implemented in UMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology at 1.8 V supply voltage. The overall circuit consumes 260 μW power at 404.5 MHz, has a wide tuning range of 66 MHz to 875 MHz having 94.5% tuning linearity. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.