A system and method for measuring the speed of a fan is presented. The
duty cycle of a pulse width modulated (PWM) power signal may control
speed of the fan. The fan may generate tachometer pulses used for
monitoring RPM of the fan. Very low frequency test pulses may be
generated and provided via a test signal multiplexed with the PWM signal
to obtain tachometer pulses present even when the PWM signal is
deasserted. The frequency of the test signal may be determined based on
the duty cycle of the PWM signal and may be dynamically updated using
frequency divider values stored in a user programmable look-up table. The
tachometer pulses may be used to reset a flip-flop whose data input is
held high and a down counter, which may be operated at a frequency
slightly lower than the frequency of the test signal, with the output of
the down counter clocking the flip-flop. The output of the flip-flop may
provide recreated tachometer pulses to a pulse counter that counts the
number of pulses within a determined period of time, providing a measured
RPM of the fan.