  We discuss the baseline optical configuration for the Laser Interferometer
Space Antenna (LISA) mission, in which the lasers are not free-running, but
rather one of them is used as the main frequency reference generator (the {\it
master}) and the remaining five as {\it slaves}, these being phase-locked to
the master (the {\it master-slave configuration}). Under the condition that the
frequency fluctuations due to the optical transponders can be made negligible
with respect to the secondary LISA noise sources (mainly proof-mass and shot
noises), we show that the entire space of interferometric combinations LISA can
generate when operated with six independent lasers (the {\it one-way method})
can also be constructed with the {\it master-slave} system design. The
corresponding hardware trade-off analysis for these two optical designs is
presented, which indicates that the two sets of systems needed for implementing
the {\it one-way method}, and the {\it master-slave configuration}, are
essentially identical. Either operational mode could therefore be implemented
without major implications on the hardware configuration. We then.......
