A system for switching between different communication modes by network nodes according to a time-division schedule to transmit and receive data packets is provided. For example, a transmitting node is configured to determine a scheduled communication mode of an upcoming time division according to a time-division schedule, and transmit a data packet in that time division when the scheduled communication mode matches a selected communication mode supported by both the transmitting node and a receiving node. The receiving node operates in a scheduled communication mode specified for a current time division by the time-division schedule and determines whether a header of the data packet is detected in the current time division. If not, the receiving node switches to a second scheduled communication mode specified for the subsequent time division by the time-division schedule to detect the header of the data packet in a subsequent time division.