RHIC plans towards higher luminosity

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is designed to provide luminosity over a wide range of beam energies and species, including heavy ions, polarized protons, and asymmetric beam collisions. In the first seven years of operation there has been a rapid increase in the achieved peak and average luminosity, substantially exceeding design values. Work is presently underway to achieve the enhanced design parameters. Planned major upgrades include the Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS), RHIC-II, and construction of an electron-ion collider (eRHIC). We review the expected RHIC upgrade performance. Electron cooling and its impact on the luminosity both for heavy ions and protons are discussed in detail.