Of course it uses the same principle, except that it needs only one shot to get an idea of the scene (camera location/object location).
Knowing any coordinates just gives a more precise representation, but with one shot and no coordinates, you already get a 3d representation.
Also the main difference here is that it automates the process: since the control point is identified (already doing that in RC), it can be found in other shots. But what it can also do is, per shot, estimate the location of the camera and refine when combining all the shots. So instead of 3 to 5 shots to get a location of one control point, you’d need 1 (probably a bit off) or maybe 2.
Facilitating capturing by making it more flexible