The Ward-Dutton (WD) partitioning scheme is used extensively to develop transient and high-frequency advanced compact models in MOSFET analysis. However, it remains an open question if this scheme can be used for field-dependent mobility that is enhanced in state-of-the-art submicrometer technologies. In this paper, after demonstrating that the well-known WD partitioning is indeed invalid for field-dependent mobility, the authors develop a very general partitioning strategy that can always be defined in small-signal analysis for any arbitrary velocity-field relationship. It has also been shown that for large-signal operation, the existence of a partitioning scheme can be determined by the solution of an integral equation. © 2006 IEEE.