A wireless communication system including a radio, a processing circuit including a processor and wake on radio circuitry. The wake on radio circuitry uses programmed descriptors to autonomously schedule transitioning into and out of sleep mode to periodically awaken and turn on the radio and perform at least one radio frequency deterministic function while the processor remains in a low power state. The deterministic functions may include a receive function, a transmit function, or a combination of both. The descriptors may be programmed according to any one of different scheduling modes supported by different communication protocols including a timeslot mode and a constant-interval mode. The wake on radio circuitry includes a scheduler that coordinates with protocol circuitry of the radio for performing one or more deterministic functions. The scheduler may program a sleep controller for scheduling sleep modes between communication sessions for performing the deterministic functions.