Abstract Application of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in optical communication is an evolving field. In this research paper, various types of chirped FBG’s (CFBG) have been used with avalanche photodiode (APD) on the designed optical fiber communication (OFC) link. Data rate of 20 Gbps and return-to-zero modulation format has been kept as fixed parameters. The designed link has been evaluated for varying fiber lengths (100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 km), various type of CFBG’s (linear, quadratic, square root and cubic root) with Gaussian apodization function, varying grating lengths (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mm) and operating temperatures (5°C, 10°C, 15°C, 20°C, 25°C, 30°C). The designed OFC link has also been evaluated for APD with and without CFBG. The performance evaluation matrix parameters selected are Q-factor, bit error rate and eye diagram. The OFC link employing CFBG with APD has been found to be superior. In compensating chromatic dispersion, optimum results have been observed for linear CFBG with Gaussian apodization function in comparison to other types of CFBG with 50 mm grating length for the maximum transmission distance.