1. A method for defining timing relationships for components in a system at a system design level, said method comprising: executing, using at least one computing device coupled to a memory, instructions for: defining component timing specifications at a system level and at a sub-system level, wherein the component timing specifications are timing specifications for a collision avoidance system in a vehicle; mathematically representing the timing specifications in a system model; providing a constraint extraction algorithm that extracts timing constraints from the mathematical representations; refining sub-system level specifications so as to extract more constraints using the constraint extraction algorithm; using the constraint extraction algorithm to generate a plurality of linear equations that define the constraints; solving for real time constraint ranges from parameters in the linear equations; and selecting values from the real time constraint ranges to be used in the mathematical representations.