In most systems there is some sort of chip that controls the motor on the engine, that is on board the engine. There is some sort of "throttle" that allows the operator to control the engine. What in between is the difference.
In DCC there is a "command station" between the engine and the throttle. The throttle sends commands to the command station and the command station sends commands to the engine through the rails. The engine gets it's power through the rails.
In wireless DCC there is radio in the throttle that sends commands to a receiver connected to the command station and the command station sends commands to the engine through the rails. The engine gets it's power through the rails.
An alternative is that instead of a dedicated radio, the throttle is an app on a smart phone and it communicates using Bluetooth or wifi with a reciver connected to the command station.
In a R/C system there is a radio transmitter in the throttle and a receiver in the engine, the throttle directly controls the engine. Power is supplied either through the rails or by an onboard battery.
All DCC is really is the communication protocol between the command station and the decoder on the engine. Any mode of communication could be used. "CV's" are just variable values for the different operating parameters. ALL systems have an equivalent to CV's, its just DCC lets you, the operator, see them and manually adjust their values. Systems that "don't have CV's", either don't let the operator manually set them, the system makes all the adjustments, or they use some sort of graphical interface, a bar graph or check box or something, instead of setting a numerical value so the user doesn't think there are CV's.