In switched reluctance motor(SRM) drive, it is important to synchronize the stator phase excitation with the rotor position; therefore, the information about rotor position is essential. Generally, optical encoders or resolvers are used to provide the information. However, these sensors are expensive and are not suitable for high-speed operation. The accuracy of the switching angles is dependent upon the resolution of the encoder and the sampling period of the microprocessor. In the high-speed region, switching angles are fluctuated back and forth out of the preset value, which is caused by the sampling period of the microprocessor. In this paper, a low cost linear encoder suitable far the practical and stable SRM drive is proposed and also the control algorithm to generate the switching signals using a simple digital logic is presented. The validity of the proposed linear encoder with a proper logic controller is verified through the experiments.