Methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for a common preamble for wireless local-area networks (WLANs). An apparatus of an access point (AP) or station (STA) comprising processing circuitry configured to decode a portion of a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), the first portion of the PPDU including a physical universal signal field (U-SIG), the U-SIG comprising a version independent portion and a version dependent portion, the version independent portion including a version identifier field, the version identifier field indicating a standard version of the PPDU. The processing circuitry is further configured to refrain from decoding the version dependent portion when the standard version indicates a standard version of a later generation than a standard version of the AP or STA, and otherwise decode the version dependent portion in accordance with the standard version.