Well I think both a & b I not familiar with
Well, to avoid that being the blind leading the desf, you better get at it.

Get some proto/demo boards (www.phytec.com is very good) use the info on the keil and raisonance sites and with th "bible" in hand and start making projects (the famous calculator comes to mind). As SPECIFIC questions come up post them here and we will get you over the hump.

Erik

PS how long do you have to prepare?