Yeah, it's the same thing, but very different speeds of crossfading. DJs crossfade over seconds, CEP's crossfading is for samples, and therefore much faster. It keeps your samples or track snippets far less conspicuous by fading in or out the nuiances of different samples/tracks.
Say you get a sample off of TV, one that you used a mic to obtain. You'll hear that superhigh (25K?) electron gun sound in the sample (some folks don't hear it...). Now you're going to go from that to a tone generated by CEP. If there were no crossfading, the high TV pitch would suddenly drop out, and the crispness of the "made" tone would seem out of place (or vice versa). Crossfading allows for a more casual transition.
CEP has many crossfade options in other tools, as well. I believe that when you stretch a sample/track, crossfading can be adjusted. Makes sense, because all CEP does is cut the sound into lotsa pieces and then tries to connect them artificially. Crossfading values can help make these stretches sound better, depending on the sound and the amount stretched/compacted.