IceCube construction will take a number of years. A simplified first-light data model is used consisting of only a multiplicity stream, calibration and monitor data. The multi-sample modes and full online filtering machinery are realized in the second year of operation as more strings are deployed and the unfiltered raw data rate outstrips the available satellite bandwidth.
Software subsystem development must be prioritized, so that the first year's data is handled without having to deviate dramatically from the overall system design. We need to develop much of the infrastructure in the first year. Defining APIs completely enables us to produce needed subsystems without recoding later.
