Signals from the various subsystems are processed by Front End Electronics (FEE) that convert detector signals into digital event fragments. Governed by the RHIC clock, which is synchronized with the beam crossings at 9.4 MHz, the FEE's of the trigger system send output to the level-1 trigger (LVL1). When the trigger accepts an event, data from the various subsystems are delivered via fiber-optic cable to the Data Collection Modules (DCM). The DCM's perform zero suppression, error checking and data reformatting. The data are then assembled into complete events in the Event Builder (EvB) that also provides an environment for the level-2 trigger (LVL2) to operate, in order to further enrich the sample of accepted events. Finally, the data are recorded to disk for storage.